Conifer, Colorado - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Conifer is an unincorporated town

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

in Jefferson County

Jefferson County, Colorado

Jefferson County , whose slogan is the "Gateway to the Rocky Mountains", is the fourth most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Located along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Jefferson County is adjacent to the west side of the state capital, Denver....

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Conifer is located along U.S. Route 285

U.S. Route 285

U.S. Route 285 is a north–south United States highway, running 845 miles through the states of Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. The highway's northern terminus is in Denver, Colorado, at exit 201 on Interstate 25. Its southern terminus is in Sanderson, Texas at an intersection with U.S....

in the foothills West of Denver. The Conifer Post Office has the ZIP Code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

80433.

History

Conifer was known in the 1860s as Bradford Junction, a stop on the stagecoach road to South Park

South Park (Colorado basin)

South Park is a high intermontane grassland basin, approximately 10,000 ft in elevation, in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado. It encompasses approximately 1,000 square miles around the headwaters of the South Platte River in Park County approximately 60 mi southwest of Denver...

. A few buildings were erected, including a tavern, rest house, and general store. Bradford Junction deteriorated by the 1890s when the stagecoach road was replaced by the Denver and South Park railroad.

By the 1920s the area was simply known as Conifer, a destination known for its beautiful mountain scenery and abundance of wildlife. For decades, the area was primarily a cattle ranching area, and there is still some ranching in southern parts of the community.

Today

In 2006, Conifer was experiencing explosive retail growth. Conifer has several new areas of commercial development including retail, restaurants,and entertainment. While there has been major development of retail and commercial development the recession has impacted some businesses. Property values for Conifer remain high and most have not been negatively affected by the recession. Conifer remains one of the top places to live in Colorado.

Conifer residents are served by the Elk Creek Fire Protection District, a mixed career/volunteer fire department with approximately 60 active duty firefighters.

Education

Students living within Jefferson County attend Jefferson County

Jefferson County Public Schools (Colorado)

Jefferson County School District R-1 is a school district in Jefferson County, Colorado. It is the largest school district in Colorado and was the 32nd largest school district in the United States in 2001-2002...

schools. Those neighborhood schools are Elk Creek Elementary School, West Jefferson Elementary School, West Jefferson Middle School and Conifer High School

Conifer High School

Conifer High School is a secondary school in Conifer, a Unincorpirated town located in the foothills of Jefferson County, southwest of Denver, Colorado. The school is located about 20 minutes southwest of SH 470 and a short distance north of U.S...

Landmarks

The Clifton House Inn, Jefferson County Register of Historic Places
The Conley Coffee Shop, Jefferson County Register of Historic Places
The Lubin-Blakeslee Place at Meyers Ranch, Conifer, Jefferson County Register of Historic Places
Midway House at Meyers Ranch, built 1889, National Register of Historic Places 5JF.303
Original Elk Creek Fire House, Jefferson County Register of Historic Places
Pleasant Park School, built 1894, Colorado Register of Historic Places 5JF.972
Yellow Barn at Bradford Junction, built 1918, Jefferson County Register of Historic Places
Long Bros. Garage at the intersection of Kings Valley Drive and Hwy 285
Coney Island Hot Dog Stand
Coney Island Hot Dog Stand
Coney Island Colorado in Bailey, Colorado is a 1950s diner shaped like a giant hot dog, with toppings. The building has been called "the best example of roadside architecture in the state"....

for many years it was in Aspen Park
Aspen Park, Colorado
Aspen Park is a census-designated place in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The population was 882 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Aspen Park is located at ....

area of Conifer, but was moved to the nearby community of Bailey
Bailey, Colorado
Bailey is an unincorporated town and U.S. Post Office in northeastern Park County, Colorado, United States.The ZIP Code of the Bailey Post Office is 80421. Bailey is in the Mountain Time Zone. The community is located along U.S...

.
Conifer is home to one of two Safeway
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...

flagship stores (the other being in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...

). The Safeway was moved to a new building in late 2006 above highway 285.

Notable people

South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...

co-creator Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...

grew up in the area and depicted the town in two show episodes
Amy Bruckner
Amy Bruckner
Amelia Ellen "Amy" Bruckner is an American actress and singer noted for her roles in the Disney Channel shows Phil of the Future and American Dragon: Jake Long...

American actress, who played Pim Diffy on Phil of the Future
Phil of the Future
Phil of the Future is an American situation comedy that originally aired on Disney Channel from June 18, 2004, to August 19, 2006 for a total of two seasons. The series was created by Tim Maile and Douglas Tuber and produced by 2121 Productions, a part of Brookwell McNamara Entertainment...

.

Geography

Conifer is located at 39°31′14"N 105°18′21"W (39.520463,-105.305843). A magnitude 3.1 tremor centered on Berrian Mountain

Berrian Mountain

Berrian Mountain is a mountain in Jefferson County, Colorado.According to Jefferson County Archives, Berrian Mountain, located one mile north of Conifer, Colorado, was named after George, Dan, and Ray Berrian and the Berrian family who came from Kansas to Colorado in 1887...