Commerce City is located in the state of Colorado and is the Home Rule Municipality of Adams County. It is a northern suburb of Denver. The area where the present-day Commerce Cit stands was founded in 1859 by proslavery John D. Henderson after fighting in Bleeding Kansas, and he built a trading post, a ranch, and a hotel on Henderson Island which is located in the South Platte River in Arapahoe County which is a part of the Kansas Territory. The first permanent settlement in the South River Platte River was Henderson Island, which is between Fort Saint Vrain that is located in the Nebraska Territory and Cherry Creek Digging, which is a part of the Kansas Territory. Henderson Island is known today as the site of the Adams County Regional Park and Fairgrounds.