DenverNeighborhoods

DENVER NEIGHBORHOODS

Denver, like any city, is made up of neighborhoods that are diverse and unique. Brief information and histories about some of those neighborhoods are presented here, having originally been displayed in the left-hand margin of many DenverGov pages as one of our "spotlight" series highlighting areas in Denver like parks and public art locations.

----- Washington Park -----

Built in 1899, the 162-acre Washington Park, with Smith and Grasmere lakes each ending the long grassy meadow, is a local recreational haven. The three-story red brick 1926 South High School, complete with griffins perched on its roof, overlooks Washington Park from the southeast corner. From I-25 to Cherry Creek and from University Boulevard to Downing Street, the neighborhood is rich with entertainment, like the cluster of small shops and restaurants on South Gaylord and South Pearl Streets.

----- Platt Park -----

Part of the original Town of South Denver, the Platt Park neighborhood ranges from Downing Street to South Broadway Street and from Mississippi Avenue to Evans Avenue. James Fleming, the town's only mayor, built his historic estate in 1882 at 1510 South Grant Street. The house, with its smooth stone walls and rotundas, was sold by Fleming in 1891 and served as the town hall, jail and library until annexed by the City of Denver in 1894. The neighborhood, just west of the University of Denver's campus, is a popular location for students and local businesses.

----- Bonnie Brae -----

Denver's Bonnie Brae neighborhood offers us a few rare glimpses of the 1930s Art Moderne architectural style. Homes built in this style used classical elements in a streamlined manner and gloried in curved corners, bands and panels of glass blocks, and horizontal bands of highly polished materials such as aluminum, stainless steel, opaque color glass, and glazed terra cotta. The International style of modern architecture can also be found in this neighborhood, with its asymmetrical composition, smooth continuous wall surfaces, and avoidance of applied decoration.

----- Barnum -----

The Barnum neighborhood, annexed to the city in September 1896, stretches from West 6th Avenue to Alameda Avenue and from Federal Boulevard to Sheridan Boulevard. The area is named after P.T Barnum of the Barnum and Bailey Circus. He purchased 760 acres in 1882 as an off-season winter respite for his show, and originally named many of the streets in the area after famous people. Several historic buildings remain, such as the 1910 Bowman house at King Street and West Fourth Avenue, and the 1890s retail building at West First Avenue and Hooker Street.

----- Belcaro -----

Exposition Avenue, Colorado Boulevard, Tennessee Avenue and Steele Street border the Belcaro neighborhood, just south of Cherry Creek. Five acres within this region are home to the grand historic Phipps House at 3400 Belcaro Drive. Lawrence C. Phipps, treasurer of Carnegie Steel and U.S. Senator, spent $310,063 in 1932, having Charles A. Platt and sons design the spacious 33,123-square-foot, 54-room red brick Georgian mansion. Called "Belcaro" by Phipps (Italian for "beautiful dear one"), the mansion was donated to the University of Denver in 1964 and now serves as a museum and conference center.

----- Capitol Hill -----

Is one of Denver's most historic and diverse neighborhoods. Its longstanding popularity has made it the center city's most densely populated neighborhood, due in large part to its proximity to outstanding transportation infrastructure, parks, unique retail and entertainment opportunities. The neighborhood also offers perhaps the city's widest range in housing types and price ranges--everything from modern high rise apartments to single-family homes, apartments in historic mansions to lofts in renovated commercial buildings.

Capitol Hill was founded in the 1880s as a new residential suburb for Denver's wealthiest families, who built extravagant Victorian, Tudor and Greek revival mansions using sandstone, granite and other materials native to Colorado. Among the most prominent residents was legendary Titanic survivor, Molly Brown, whose house still stands on Pennsylvania Street and is a popular museum. The Colorado State Capitol building--dedicated in 1890--stands on the neighborhood's far west side at Colfax Avenue & Lincoln Street. In Capitol Hill south of Colfax Avenue, there are nine designated historic districts. (See links to historic district profiles at the bottom of this page.)

Today, many of those mansions still stand, but the neighborhood has evolved into a mixed-use community with a majority of apartments and condominiums. After serious population declines in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Capitol Hill has enjoyed population increases during the past five years, and some estimates call for 3,000 more new residents in the next 3 years.

On its north edge, the resurgent Colfax Avenue is continuing its remarkable recovery after years of neglect and high crime rates. As crime rates on Colfax and throughout the Capitol Hill neighborhood have dropped dramatically in recent years, new retail, entertainment venues, office users and even condominium developments have followed. In recent years, dilapidated apartment buildings have been rehabilitated throughout Capitol Hill; commercial buildings (such as Penn Garage Lofts at 14th & Pennsylvania Street) have been transformed into mixed-use housing projects; and vacant lots have given rise to new construction housing developments. There have been 22 development projects on Colfax Avenue alone in the last three years, adding up to $34 million in investment that includes three residential projects.

Capitol Hill also features several small commercial and retail districts that are pedestrian friendly. One of the city's most compact and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, Capitol Hill residents walk to coffee shops, hardware stores, grocery stores, restaurants and other gathering places at 9th & Corona Street, 11th & Ogden Street, and along the 14th Avenue corridor. Capitol Hill's landmark park is Cheesman Park, and Downtown's Civic Center Park is also close by.

Capitol Hill also home to some of Denver's best cultural and entertainment venues. In addition to the Molly Brown House, the Vance Kirkland Museum (13th & Pearl Street) celebrates Denver's internationally renowned abstract painter. On Colfax Avenue & Clarkson Street, Mammoth Gardens has been refurbished into the Fillmore Auditorium, and a few blocks away is the Ogden Theater. Both are popular small venues for music.

----- Cherry Creek -----

Centered by the fashionable Cherry Creek mall and surrounded by nearby luxury housing, the upscale Cherry Creek neighborhood is a thriving, self-contained oasis for residents. Between Colorado Boulevard to University and 6th Avenue to Exposition, several hundred stores, boutiques, art galleries, salons, restaurants and cafes provide endless entertainment opportunities. At all times of the year, the 22-mile Cherry Creek path is a haven for biking, running, walking, in-line skating and similar sports. In summer, the Cherry Creek Arts Festival brings thousands to the area to celebrate artistic and musical work by artists and performers from all over the world.

----- Clement's Addition -----

The Clement's Addition Historic District is one of Denver's oldest intact residential areas, located southeast of Lower Downtown between 20th and 22nd Streets, from Tremont Place to Glenarm Place. 1880s structures like the Clement's Row House on 2201-2217 Glenarm remain as unique family housing. Nearby, the Zion Baptist church at 933 E. 24th Avenue is a historic landmark for locals. Established by former slaves in 1865, the popular church is home to Colorado's first black congregation and was led for 50 years between 1941 and 1991 by Reverend Wendell T. Liggins, a Denver civic activist.

----- Cole -----

The Cole neighborhood, which became part of the city in 1874, stretches from 32nd Avenue to 40th Avenue and from York Street to Downing Street. Cole Junior High School and the neighborhood itself are named after Carlos M. Cole, a superintendent of Denver's Public Schools who was instrumental in establishing junior high schools in Denver. More than half of the residential blocks were developed prior to 1900. Several historic buildings remain, like the cleanly designed red brick and sandstone Wyatt School on 3620 Franklin Street, built in 1887 and named after its former principal George W. Wyatt.

----- Country Club -----

The Country Club Historic District begins north of the Denver Country Club at 1st Avenue and extends to 4th Avenue, to 6th Avenue along Circle Drive, and from University Boulevard to Downing Street. William and Arthur Fisher, in collaboration with prominent Boston architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., designed the exclusive Country Club Place subdivision between Franklin and Race Streets in 1909. Architecturally fascinating mansions and grand houses designed for Denver's social and political elite define the 380-home neighborhood.

----- Curtis Park -----

Curtis Park was developed in the 1860s and 1870s as a fashionable residential suburb north of Downtown Denver. Today, Curtis Park remains one of the center city's most accessible center city neighborhoods for Downtown workers, characterized by its tree-lined streets, its broad range of housing types, and its social, economic and ethnic diversity.

Curtis Park's housing mix is wide ranging: single story duplexes stand next door to recently renovated grand Victorian mansions; flat-roofed rowhouses next to classic, two-story Denver Square brick houses; Queen Anne-style houses with second floor porches are also numerous. There are three designated historic districts in the Curtis Park neighborhood: Clements, San Rafael and Glenarm Place.

Since its founding, Curtis Park has always been a mixed-income neighborhood. Interspersed among the neighborhood's turn of the century mansions are smaller houses built by waves of immigrants who came to Denver to join the workforce during the city's early years. Throughout the neighborhood's history, many of Curtis Park's residents have worked in Downtown Denver, which is only a 15-minute walk or a quick ride on RTD's light rail--or, in past decades, on streetcars--from Downtown's businesses and office buildings.

Curtis Park is also a remarkably diverse neighborhood. Approximately 30% of the residents are African-American, 30% are Latino, and 40% are white.
A current effort that is changing the landscape of Curtis Park is the rebuilding of the neighborhood's housing projects through a $26 million federal HOPE VI grant. Four blocks of two-story apartment buildings that were built for public housing in the 1950s were demolished in 2000. The area is being rebuilt to accommodate market-rate apartments and condominiums alongside affordable and low income units, creating a more economically diverse community. Construction of the new housing is underway, remarkably transforming the neighborhood.

Curtis Park's landmarks include the Denver Enterprise Center (3003 Arapahoe Street), an innovative small-business incubator that utilizes the labor force from the surrounding neighborhood; the Women's Bean Project (3201 Curtis Street), an entrepreneurial business and job skills program for low-income women that is housed in a renovated firehouse; and Sacred Heart (2760 Larimer Street), Denver's oldest Catholic parish whose church recently completed significant renovations. The neighborhood's namesake open space--Mestizo-Curtis Park--lies in the center of the neighborhood, and was created in 1868 as Denver's first public park

----- Hampden Heights -----

Hampden Heights, northwest of the Cherry Creek Reservoir, lies in the far southeast portion of Denver and extends from East Cornell Avenue to East Girard Avenue and from South Geneva Street to Ulster Court. The neighborhood is a golfer's paradise, adjacent to three large golf courses and two country clubs: John F. Kennedy, Meadow Hills, Heather Gardens (course and club) and Los Verdes. The area is rich with shopping and entertainment attractions. Nearby parks offer condo-dwelling residents an invitation to stretch out under a tree or toss a ball.

----- Harvey Park -----

The suburban West Denver Harvey Park neighborhood stretches from Jewell Avenue to Hampden Avenue, and from Sheridan Boulevard to Lowell Boulevard. Harvey Park at Evans Avenue and Paxton Court is former farmland, donated to the City and County of Denver for parks and recreation use by the Harvey family. Built in 1949, the Fort Logan National Cemetery defines the southern boundary of the area. Further south and sharing 550 acres with the cemetery is the Fort Logan Mental Health Center, a former Army post named after John A. Logan, a Union Army Civil War general.

----- Highland -----

The Highland region originated in 1858 when Denver founder William H. Larimer, Jr., waded across the Platte River to stake out high ground on the bluffs northwest of Denver. Bought and later sold by Reverend Walter M. Potter, the 320-acre area bordered by West 38th Avenue, Zuni Street, West 32nd Avenue and Federal Boulevard became home to many Scottish, German, Italian and English immigrants in the 1890s. Some of Denver's most architecturally diverse buildings exist here.

----- Lower Downtown -----

With over 100 restaurants, 30 art galleries, numerous loft apartments, clubs and boutiques, the neighborhood bordered by the Platte River, Speer Boulevard, 23rd Street and Lawrence Street has been transformed unlike any other in Denver. Former early frontier town, 1920s Market Street red-light district and 1970s warehouse center, LoDo now epitomizes ideal urban living. Wooden buildings destroyed by fire in 1863 resulted in LoDo's characteristic simple designs with red brick and arched windows. Once a robust transportation hub, stagecoaches carrying gold left the Wells Fargo Depot at 1338 15th Street and Union Station trafficked over 80 trains a day.

----- Observatory Park -----

Observatory Park, located between Evans and Iliff Avenues and Milwaukee and Fillmore Streets, is a favorite gathering place for social outings and student events. Astronomy buffs are particular fans of this park, since it is named for the 1890 Chamberlin Observatory, donated to the University of Denver by Humphrey Baker Chamberlin and designed by Denver architect Robert S. Roeschlaub.

----- Park Hill -----

Three miles from the Central Business District and primarily residential, Denver's Park Hill neighborhood begins just east of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on Colorado Boulevard to Quebec Street and from Colfax Avenue to as far north as 52nd Avenue. Montview Boulevard, developed in 1882, and Monaco Parkway are main thoroughfares and typify the wide, tree-lined neighborhood streets. Park Hill's nationally recognized neighborhood organization sponsors an annual tour of the many historic homes in this welcoming community.

----- Riverfront Park -----

Riverfront Park is one of the most interesting and innovative neighborhoods in Denver.and the entire country. With the new 25-acre Commons Park as a front yard, LoDo as a backyard, and all of downtown Denver as a playground, there are endless options for activity, entertainment and relaxation.

As Denver's only new downtown neighborhood, Riverfront Park is attracting a wide variety of residents: young singles who work downtown, empty nesters enjoying their newfound freedom, professional couples, and newcomers to Denver who see the neighborhood as a refreshing change of pace from suburban living.

----- Sloan Lake -----

Two connected lakes, Cooper and Sloan, comprise Sloan Lake's 177 acres and are a focal point of the Sloan Lake neighborhood, bordered by West 29th Avenue, West 10th Avenue, Federal Boulevard and Sheridan Boulevard. Primarily residential with the majority of homes built in the 1930s, pockets of 1800s structures exist in nearby historic districts, including the eclectic mix of houses on 14th Avenue and Stuart Street. Each unique in design, the 1890 Voorhees House, the 1888 Spangler House, the 1890 Smith House, the 1892 McNulty House and the 1892 Bliss House reflect beautiful architectural styles of the era.

----- Uptown -----

The Uptown neighborhood lies to the immediate east of Downtown Denver, and offers an eclectic mix of elements: restaurants, retail, historic mansions, new construction loft and condominium projects, hospital campuses, small office buildings, entertainment venues and neighborhood gathering places. It is quickly becoming one of the most popular neighborhoods in the city, due in large part to its ease of accessibility to Downtown's core.

The architectural styles and housing options in Uptown cross the spectrum from Denver Squares, Victorians, apartment complexes, bungalows, Queen Anne-style houses with second-story porches and much more. A majority of the neighborhood is single family detached houses, with tree-lined boulevards that separate sidewalks from the street.

A longtime anchor in the Uptown neighborhood has been a complex of hospitals in the neighborhood's core. St. Joseph's, The Children's Hospital, Presbyterian/St. Luke's, and Kaiser Permanente are major presences and employers in the neighborhood, and many hospital supply, doctor's offices and related businesses are located in nearby buildings. The hospitals employ nearly 10,000 workers. (The Children's Hospital announced plans to move to the Fitzsimons area in Aurora in the next five years, along with the University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center.)

Uptown's southern boundary is Colfax Avenue, Denver's traditional retail and services corridor that is undergoing a remarkable recovery. New retail, housing and office development is changing Colfax's landscape, and the refurbished Fillmore Auditorium and Ogden Theater draw music fans for live performances. The numerous restaurants on 17th Street have resulted in a "Restaurant Row" destination attraction.
Population: 7,780

----- Washington Park -----

Built in 1899, the 162-acre Washington Park, with Smith and Grasmere lakes each ending the long grassy meadow, is a local recreational haven. The three-story red brick 1926 South High School, complete with griffins perched on its roof, overlooks Washington Park from the southeast corner. From I-25 to Cherry Creek and from University Boulevard to Downing Street, the neighborhood is rich with entertainment, like the cluster of small shops and restaurants on South Gaylord and South Pearl Streets.

----- Wellshire -----

The residential Wellshire neighborhood, with its meandering and curvy streets, extends from Colorado Boulevard to University Boulevard and from Yale Avenue to Hampden Avenue. One-fourth of the southeast area is home to the 18-hole Wellshire Golf Course designed in 1926 by Donald Ross. The 13.4-acre Skeel Reservoir and mature cottonwood trees make an attractive landscape for golfers. The former clubhouse for the Wellshire Country Club was remodeled in 1976 as the Wellshire Inn at 3333 South Colorado Boulevard.

Denver History

photo credits: Denver Public Library Western History photo collection, Bob Schubring

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