Stapleton, Denver the A Line. The original airport was named for Benjamin Franklin Stapleton (November 12, 1869 – May 23, 1950) who was the Mayor of Denver for two periods (comprising five terms), the first from 1923 to 1931 and the second from 1935 to 1947. He also served as a high-ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan and the Democratic Colorado State Auditor from 1933 to 1935. Today, the Stapleton neighborhood continues to bear his name despite increasing political pressure to rename it due to Benjamin Stapleton's adherence to white supremacy and membership in the Ku Klux Klan. Stapleton, Denver Stapleton
Denver International Airport away than Stapleton International Airport, the airport it replaced. The distant location was chosen to avoid aircraft noise affecting developed areas, to accommodate a generous runway layout that would not be compromised by blizzards, and to allow for future expansion. The 52.4 square miles (136 km) of land occupied by the airport is more than one and a half times the size of Manhattan (33.6 sq mi or 87 km2). At 33,531 acres (136 km), DIA is by far the largest land area commercial airport in the United States. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is a distant second at 70 km