Arvada is located in Jefferson County and is an easy commute to downtown Denver and the Mile-High City's arts and cultural opportunities. Composed primarily of the cities of Arvada, Golden, Lakewood and Wheat Ridge, the county also encompasses portions of Westminster and Broomfield. The cities that make up Jefferson County are mostly residential areas still young in development and not heavily inundated with industry and business. Nonetheless, business has begun rising in Jefferson County in recent years due to its quality of life and ideal location within the metro area.

Many of Denver's mountain parks also lie within Jefferson County – including the world-famous Red Rocks Amphitheater. A favorite of many top entertainers, Red Rocks has rugged sandstone rock formations that flank the amphitheater, providing excellent acoustics and a stunning frame for Denver's city lights.

The Jefferson County School District is the largest in the state, serving more than 80,000 students from preschool through 12th grade. School enrollment continues to rise, increasing by several thousand students each year. Approved bond issues will allow construction of 18 new schools as well as renovation of many existing facilities.

For those seeking higher education opportunities, Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood offers a comprehensive curriculum in a variety of technical trade fields. In addition, the Colorado School of Mines in Golden is the state's preeminent engineering school and is nationally renowned as one of the country's best colleges.

The story of Arvada begins with the discovery of gold on June 22, 1850. A wagon train of prospectors – bound for California – crossed the Platte River just north of the confluence with Clear Creek and followed Clear Creek west for six miles. The members of the wagon train rested for a day, and Lewis Ralston dipped his gold pan in an unnamed mountain stream. He found almost $5 worth of gold in his first pan. The stream was later named Ralston Creek in his honor. This was the first gold discovery in Colorado, and one of the most significant events in Colorado history.

In 1858, Ralston accompanied another group of prospectors back to the site of his 1850 discovery. Again, gold was panned from the stream in small amounts. Ralston became discouraged and soon quit the area, but the rest of the group continued prospecting and discovered richer diggings upstream along the South Platte. Early in 1859 gold was discovered in the mountains along the upper reaches of Clear Creek and the Colorado gold rush began.

Not all the prospectors found paying claims. Some soon realized that growing crops and selling them to the miners could make them a good living. The area near Ralston's original gold strike had fertile soil and could be easily irrigated. A small farming community sprang up on a ridge between Ralston and Clear Creek and became known as Ralston Point. The first settlers to the area claimed the bottomland adjacent to streams. On December 1, 1870, soon after the construction of a railroad near the settlement, and six years before Colorado would achieve statehood, legal notice was posted for the new Town of Arvada. Benjamin F. Wadsworth and Louis A. Reno filed a town plat, and Wadsworth's wife, Mary, named the new town in honor of her brother-in-law, Hiram Arvada Haskin.