Highlands Ranch Turns 45, and the Water Utility Is Throwing the Party

"Mission Viejo gave the Scott family a steer in their freezer in celebration and honoring the ranchland of Highlands Ranch." That line comes from the Highlands Ranch Community Association's history timeline. It describes the welcome given to Phil and Kaye Scott's family, the first household to move into the community in 1981.

Forty-five years later, the community has marked that milestone with one event. It isn't a parade or a festival. It's a one-hour trivia night in a taproom, co-hosted by the Highlands Ranch Metro District and Highlands Ranch Water, and first prize is a $100 credit on your water bill.

That can look like a modest way to celebrate. The founding record suggests otherwise. Highlands Ranch had its utilities and its rules before anyone moved in, and the anniversary is being run the same way.

The Water District Came Before the Neighbors

HRCA's timeline puts the order of events plainly. In 1980, construction on the first phase began and the Mission Viejo/Centennial Water and Sanitation District was formed. The first families arrived in 1981, the same year the Joseph B. Blake Water Treatment Plant was built.

The governing documents were ready by the time the first families showed up. HRCA's original Articles of Incorporation were filed on September 10, 1981. The community declaration was recorded a week later, on September 17, 1981, at 2:13 p.m. The Scott family moved in that same September.

The Metro District also gives 1981 as its founding year, and it notes that four separate metro districts merged into one in 2006.

So the anniversary month was last month, and it passed without a public event. The celebration that did get scheduled comes from the two agencies that run the parks and the pipes, which matches how the community was set up in the first place.

What You Need to Know for October 15

The Highlands Ranch 45th Anniversary Trivia Night runs Thursday, October 15, 6 to 7 p.m., at Max Taps Co., 2680 E. County Line Road. It's free, but you have to register in advance. Food and drinks are available to buy.

The top three finishers win prizes:

• First place: a $100 credit on your water bill
• Second place: a $50 Max Taps gift card
• Third place: a two-hour reservation at the Southpark Pickleball Complex

The third-place prize is a recent addition to the community. The Southpark Pickleball Complex, at 400 W. County Line Road, held its official opening on January 31, 2026.

The questions are about local history. The hosts haven't published them, so the list below simply gathers the facts the community's own records treat as its founding story.

A Cheat Sheet, Oldest First

1. 1884. Samuel Allen Long filed a homestead claim on the land.
2. 1891. Long built a stone farmhouse he named Rotherwood. The Mansion's own history and the Metro District's history both treat that farmhouse as the original structure. HRCA's general history page credits John Springer with starting construction in 1891, so the answer depends on which source the quizmaster used.
3. 1897. Springer started buying up nearby ranches, Rotherwood among them. He combined them into the Cross Country Horse and Cattle Ranch and enlarged the farmhouse.
4. The Phipps era. Lawrence Phipps Jr. later renamed the property Highlands Ranch. After that, Marvin Davis and his partners, under the name Highlands Venturers, bought the ranch from the Phipps estate.
5. 1978. Mission Viejo Company paid $2 million in cash for a one-year option to study whether the project was feasible.
6. 1979. Douglas County commissioners approved Planned Community District zoning, and Mission Viejo bought the 22,000 acres for $29 million. The Metro District's history says the ranch was sold to Mission Viejo in 1978, so if a question asks for the purchase year, either answer has a source behind it.
7. 1980. Construction began on the first phase, and the water and sanitation district was formed.
8. 1981. The first families moved in. The Scotts were first, and Jennifer Dani was the first baby born in the community. The first three models were called Groves, Bayfield and Stoney Point, priced from $50,000 to just over $100,000. The first filing of 50 homes sold out in two hours.

The list points the same direction as the first section. The ranch spent about 90 years changing hands among a handful of owners. The suburb went from a feasibility option to occupied homes in roughly three years, because the zoning, the water and the governing documents were all handled first.

The Older Story Fills the Rest of the Fall

The suburb is turning 45, but most of this fall's public programming is about the land's earlier history. Several of those dates are close together.

At Highlands Ranch Mansion

• Spirits with the Spirits evening tours run Wednesdays, October 7, 14 and 21, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The Mansion's page lists them as sold out and offers a waitlist. The Metro District's events calendar also lists October 28, but the Mansion's page doesn't. Check with the Mansion before you plan around that date.
• The Last Stop runs Saturday, October 31, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. It's free, outdoors only and needs no reservation. There's a DJ and a cash bar with a signature cocktail, and the Mansion's interior will be closed. Parking is limited, parking in the surrounding neighborhoods isn't allowed, and pets aren't allowed on the grounds. The Mansion encourages carpooling, and it asks nearby residents to walk or bike.
• The Lost Department Stores of Denver lecture is Monday, November 16, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The talk itself starts at 6:30.

With the Highlands Ranch Historical Society

• Spotlight on the Lyons is Monday, October 19, at Southridge Recreation Center, 4800 McArthur Ranch Road. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the program runs from 7 to 8:30. Non-members are asked for a $5 donation at the door.
• A program for National Native American Heritage Month takes the same Southridge slot on Monday, November 16.

That puts the Historical Society's November program on the same night as the Mansion lecture, and both run past 8 p.m. You'll have to pick one.

October 21 is crowded too. It's the last Spirits tour on the Mansion's printed schedule, and HRCA's Dueling Pianos show runs that evening from 7 to 8:30 at Southridge Recreation Center. Tickets for the show are $15.

The Anniversary Shows Up in Playground Fences, Too

A community built all at once also wears out on a schedule. On September 8, the Metro District closed the 19-year-old playground at Civic Green Park, 9370 Ridgeline Blvd., for replacement. Work is expected to last through late November. The rest of the park stays open, but the shelter next to the playground is fenced off. The upper fountains and wading stream were shut off early for the season.

The new playground will cover more ground than the old one, and continuous rubber surfacing will replace the wood chips. Plans include a tall main structure for kids ages 5 to 12, separate areas for ages 2 to 5 and for toddlers, four swings under a shade awning, a spinning rope tower, and a merry-go-round you can roll onto at ground level. The fountains, the wading stream and the book sculptures aren't part of the project and will stay as they are. Until it reopens, the Metro District suggests Northridge, Foothills and Kistler parks.

The district says it aims to replace one or two playgrounds a year, depending on budget approval and available funding. Toepfer Park, at 9320 Venneford Ranch Road, went through the same process earlier in the cycle. The district's July park guide lists its new rubber-surfaced playground and shaded swings.

The 45th anniversary is getting a trivia night, and the place itself is getting new rubber surfacing one park at a time.

Many homes here also date back to particular filings and phases of the original plan, and that history can affect what a house is worth today. If you'd like to know how your home's history and condition affect its value, Perfect Denver Homes will put the numbers together for you. Get Your Free Home Valuation.