Neighborhood Profile: Harvey Park South Harvey Park South History: Forty-five acres of the Harvey Park South area were first purchased in 1890 for the St. Mary’s Academy. The Catholic girls’ school was run by the Sisters of Loretto and had outgrown its previous location. The school was a five-story, 186 room, Romanesque-style Building. The Sisters…

Neighborhood Profile: Central Park Central Park History: Central Park, (formerly Stapleton) located seven miles outside of downtown Denver, was originally known as Sand Creek or Rattlesnake Hollow. In the early 1920s, the aviation industry was steadily growing in Denver. Mayor Benjamin Stapleton wanted to build a local airport to centralize this growth. The mayor secured…

Neighborhood Profile: Athmar Park Athmar Park History: Athmar Park originally started out as a few independent parcels. The northeast portion was rural farmland at the turn of the 20th century. A majority of those farms were wheat fields and celery farms. The eastern border was once part of what is now the Valverde neighborhood. And…

Neighborhood Profile: Whittier Whittier History: The Whittier neighborhood was one of the first neighborhoods to extend beyond the bounds of Denver’s original Congressional Grant. The neighborhood was named after a local school. The school was named in honor of the nineteenth-century abolitionist poet, John Greenleaf Whittier. Whittier wrote about the injustices of slavery and questioned the hypocrisy of a…

Neighborhood Profile: Cory-Merril Cory-Merrill History: The Cory-Merrill neighborhood was originally named Coronado by S. Allen and Henrietta Long. The couple platted the land in 1883. Coronado was then part of the town of South Denver. The Long family, with help from John Babcock, persuaded school district #35 to open an academy in their area. Babcock was instrumental in the development…

Neighborhood Profile: North Park Hill North Park Hill History:  A Prussian German named Baron Allois Guillaume Eugen Von Winckler is credited as “the father of Park Hill.” He purchased the plot of land that is now South Park Hill and platted it, “Park Hill” in 1885. Winckler died thirteen years later and upon his death investors bought the Park…

Neighborhood Profile: University University Neighborhood Denver History: The University neighborhood Denver owes much of its history to Denver University. John Evans founded the school as Colorado Seminary in 1864. The name changed to the University of Denver in 1880. Just a few years later the school was outgrowing its original site at Fourteenth and Arapahoe Street….

Neighborhood Profile: Globeville Globeville History: Globeville’s land was originally purchased by the Globe Smelting and Refining Company in the late 1880’s. Just like today, the area was primarily industrial. The neighborhood included the smelt plant, other packing plants and the railroads. These three industries were a big draw for people looking for employment. Globeville became its own incorporated…

Neighborhood Profile: East Colfax East Colfax History: In the late 1850’s gold prospectors and settlers would travel west to Denver over a branch of the Smoky Hill Trail. This trail connected the smaller town of Denver to the nearest big city in the east. Soon the trail would become known as the Kansas City Road….

Neighborhood Profile: University Park University Park History: University Park owes much of its history to it’s proximity to the University of Denver. The school was originally founded as Colorado Seminary by John Evans in 1864. However, in 1880 the school added the name the University of Denver. Just a few years later the school outgrew its…

Neighborhood Profile: South Park Hill South Park Hill History: Speculators purchased most of South Park Hill from the federal government in the 1860’s. It was Prussian German, Baron Allois Guillaume Eugen Von Winckler, however, who’s credited as “the father of Park Hill.” Winckler came to Denver in 1884 at the age of 25 and soon…

Sloan Lake Sloan Lake History: Thomas Sloan and his wife Sarah staked claim to 160 acres of what is now the Sloan Lake neighborhood in 1862. The Ohio couple moved to Denver in 1959, and ran a bar and boarding house on Larimer Street. The lake did not actually exist on the original homestead. Rumor has it that…