Recreation- In 1860, Richard Sullivan Little moved to Colorado in 1860. Born in Grafton, New Hampshire in 1829, Little had been educated as a civil engineer in Vermont. During the 1850s, Little did surveying for the expanding railroads, first in New Hampshire then later throughout southern and central Wisconsin. Little had trouble collecting his fees due to an economic depression in the late 1850s, so he moved to booming Colorado. Richard Little then found work surveying land claims for farmers along the South Platte River.

Between 1861 – 1862, Richard Little claimed a hundred and sixty acres of land just east of the South Platte River, near the head of the Capital Hydraulic ditch. Little filed his initial claim with the Arapahoe Claim Club, establishing his "squatter's rights." Later, Little purchased additional acreage and made a homestead filing of his own in 1862. Richard Little traveled Chicago to bring his wife, Angeline, to Colorado, the return trip took two months.

Recreation- Littleton is rich in recreational opportunities. The 625-acre South Platte Park, South Platte River, High Line Canal Trail, Lee Gulch, Arapahoe Greenway and Carson Nature Center provide outdoor enthusiasts with opportunities to boat, bike, hike, swim, skate, golf, ride horses and play baseball, softball and soccer.

There are 26 neighborhood parks, three golf courses, a two-rink enclosed ice arena, two indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a multi-purpose recreation center. In addition, there are over thirty miles of bike trails through residential areas plus almost twenty miles of biking or walking trails along the High Line Canal Trail.