Aurora, Colorado, originated in 1890 as the town of Fletcher, taking its name from Denver businessman Donald George Fletcher, born September 29, 1849 in Ontario, Canada, who saw it as a real estate opportunity. He and his partners staked out four square miles on the plains east of Denver, around Colfax Avenue, but the town struggled mightily after the Silver Crash of 1893. At that point Fletcher skipped town, leaving the community with a huge water debt. Inhabitants decided to rename the town Aurora in 1907.
Colfax Avenue is the main street that runs east–west through the Denver metropolitan area in Colorado. The street was named for politician Schuyler Colfax, born March 23, 1823 in New York City, who co-founded the Republican Party on March 20, 1854. Colfax Avenue has been a transportation and business corridor for the Denver area since 1870. It became Aurora’s Main Street, and continues to be an important thread in the city’s commercial life.