August 1, 1876: Colorado Is Admitted As the 38th State

The State Flag

August 1, 1876: Colorado is admitted to the Union as the 38th State.

Aside from the continuing readmission of the Confederate States, this was the 1st new State since Nebraska, 9 years earlier. The previous States were admitted in this order, with the 1st 13 being listed by when their legislatures ratified the new Constitution of the United States:

1. Delaware, December 7, 1787.

2. Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787.

3. New Jersey, December 18, 1787.

4. Georgia, January 2, 1788.

5. Connecticut, January 9, 1788.

6. Massachusetts, February 6, 1788.

7. Maryland, April 28, 1788. 

8. South Carolina, May 23, 1788.

9. New Hampshire, June 21, 1788. Getting 9 of the 1st 13, or three-quarters, guaranteed the Constitution's overall ratification.

10. Virginia, June 25, 1788.

11. New York, July 26, 1788. Getting the largest Northern State, New York, and the largest Southern State, Virginia, was seen as vital for overall acceptance of the Constitution. Hence, The Federalist Papers, designed to persuade legislators to ratify the document, were written by Alexander Hamilton of New York, plus 5 by John Jay, also of New York; and James Madison of Virginia, who had written the bulk of the Constitution.

12. North Carolina, November 21, 1789, the 1st State admitted after the 1st convening of Congress on March 4, 1789, and the 1st admitted after the Inauguration of the 1st President, George Washington, on April 30, 1789. Georgia, Virginia and both Carolinas are the only States to have been part of the Original 13 and the Confederate 11.

13. Rhode Island, May 29, 1790.

14. Vermont, March 4, 1791, the 1st State admitted that was not part of what we now tend to call "The Original 13 Colonies."

15. Kentucky, June 1, 1792, the 1st "Western" State.

16. Tennessee, June 1, 1796.

17. Ohio, March 1, 1803, the 1st State admitted as a result of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

18. Louisiana, April 30, 1812, the 1st State admitted as a result of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

19, Indiana, December 11, 1816.

20. Mississippi, December 10, 1817.

21. Illinois, December 3, 1818.

22. Alabama, December 14, 1819.

23. Maine, March 15, 1820.

24. Missouri, August 10, 1821. Maine and Missouri were admitted, albeit a year and a half apart, as a result of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, an attempt to assure a balance of Free States and Slave States. Maine's land had been part of Massachusetts.

25. Arkansas, June 15, 1836.

26. Michigan, January 26, 1837.

27. Florida, March 3, 1845.

28. Texas, December 29, 1845.

29. Iowa, December 28, 1846.

30, Wisconsin, May 28, 1848.

31. California, September 9, 1850, the 1st State from the land won from the Mexican-American War, and the 1st State on the Pacific Coast.

32. Minnesota, May 11, 1858.

33. Oregon, February 14, 1859.

34. Kansas, January 29, 1861, the last State admitted before the American Civil War, admitted as some Southern States were seceding.

35. West Virginia, June 20, 1863. Virginia had seceded from the Union, so West Virginia seceded from Virginia, and rejoined the Union.

36. Nevada, October 31, 1864.

37. Nebraska, March 1, 1867, the 1st State admitted after the Civil War.

A reminder: My cutoff date for this project is 1869, because of 3 significant events that occurred that year, 2 of them sporting events on back-to-back days: The completion of the 1st transcontinental railroad, the end of the 1st professional baseball season, and the 1st American football game.

Colorado is in the Rocky Mountains, which include the State's most famous physical feature, the 14,115-foot-high Pikes Peak. The Colorado Territory had been separated from the Kansas Territory, which was obtained as part of the Louisiana Purchase. It has become known for gold mining (a gold rush in 1859 helped start the movement for Statehood) and skiing (Aspen and Vail are world-famous ski resorts).

In politics, it was traditionally Republican until 1992, when a large influx of Hispanic voters switched it to being usually Democratic. Still, there is a bit of a divide: Denver and Boulder, the latter having a Hippie image, make for "The People's Republic of Boulder." The rest of the State is so conservative, it might as well be called "West Nebraska" or "East Utah."

No Colorado native has ever become President. Its highest-ranking politician has been Federico Peña, who served as Mayor of Denver (1983-91), and, in the Administration of President Bill Clinton, served as Secretary of Transportation (1993–1997) and Secretary of Energy (1997–1998). Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, was born in Denver, and was the Democratic nominee for President in 2004, but lost. Mamie Eisenhower, wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, grew up in Denver.

It is home to the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado State University in Fort Collins, the University of Denver (multi-time National Champions in hockey), and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

Its capital, Denver, is also its largest city. Denver is home to MLB's Colorado Rockies, the NFL's Denver Broncos, the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, and MLS' Colorado Rapids. (UPDATE: The NWSL's Denver Summit began play in 2026.)

Denver has never hosted a Super Bowl, although the Broncos have been in 8; and was not selected as a host city for the 1994 World Cup. The Broncos have won the Super Bowl in 1998, 1999 and 2015; and the Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup in 1996, 2001 and 2022. The Rockies have won the National League Pennant in 2007, but never the World Series. The Nuggets reached the ABA Finals in 1976, but never the NBA Finals. The Rapids won the 2010 MLS Cup.

(UPDATE: Denver was not selected as a host city for the 2026 World Cup. But the Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Championship.) 

*

August 1, 1876 was a Tuesday. The only major sports league in North American was baseball's National League, and these 3 games were played:

* The Hartford Dark Blues beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-4 at the Hartford Ball Club Grounds in Hartford, Connecticut.

* The St. Louis Brown Stockings beat the Cincinnati Reds, 19-3 at the Avenue Grounds in Cincinnati.

* And the Chicago White Stockings beat the Louisville Grays, 15-7 at Louisville Baseball Park in Louisville, Kentucky.

Despite some later teams having similar names to these, the only one of these teams still in existence today is the Chicago White Stockings, who have been known as the Chicago Cubs since 1903.