Hilltop

Hilltop – Crestmoor

The Neighborhood of Hilltop and its Eastern neighbor sit on a high hill Southeast of Downtown Denver. Eleven thousand years ago, this high, grassy plain overlooked a much different Cherry Creek Valley, wide and swollen with glacial melting. At that time it was home to as many as 40 different species of mammal, with herds of bison and camels feeding on the ragweed and juniper. The mass extinction of most of these mammals occurred 4000 years ago with the coming of homosapiens across the Bering Strait. Sixty years before the discovery of gold in Cherry Creek, the Cheyenne wandered the plain. By 1864, Four Mile House, located just south of the present day neighborhood of Hilltop along the Cherry Creek, was operating to serve as a way station for travelers coming to Denver along the Cherokee Trail.

In 1885, the City Lateral Canal was constructed as a branch of the High Line Canal to bring water to the area. By late 1886, Milo A. Smith, President of the East Colfax Railroad Company, recognized the value of Hilltop with its then unobstructed mountain views and platted the area just South of the City Lateral Canal. The Malone and Dubois Subdivision was platted in 1892, with the plat failing to connect with the already existing plate to the South, resulting in the jog of every street between 3rh and 4th Avenue.

By 1910, Hilltop had 16 dwellings, and Denver was in the midst of its City Beautiful phase masterminded by Mayor Robert Speer. Among many other parks, the 23 acres now known as Cranmer Park was planned, first named Inspiration Park. In 1916, George Cranmer built his home adjacent to the city owned park land at 200 Cherry Street.
The Mediterranean renaissance home, designed by Jacques Benedict was built at the highest point in Hilltop with the best mountain view.

By the late 1920’s, Hilltop was a budding community with city water and competing home builders. The relocation of the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine in 1925 to the corner of 8th Avenue and Colorado Blvd, served as an economic stimulant to the area, with so many doctors moving to Hilltop that the area became known as “Pill Hill”. One of Denver’s premier private schools, Graland Country Day School, broke ground in 1928, and the Denver Public Schools opened Amos Steck Elementary School in 1930.

Today the area is one of Denver’s foremost communities. While many small homes been replaced or expanded in recent years, much of the historical architecture still remains. Home to Temple Emanuel, Assumption Greek Orthodox, Epiphany Episcopal, Denver Temple Baptist, and Augustana Lutheran Churches, Hilltop basks in it diversity. From George Cranmer’s home on Cherry Street, to Shangri-La on South Bellaire, to Denver’s official Mayoral Residence, Cableland, Hilltop has seen many of Denver’s great and near great build and live in Hilltop.

Hilltop’s homes represent a wide variety of styles. Many of the homes built before 1960 have been rebuilt to current standards, or in many cases, “scrapped off” the lot to be replaced by large 2-story homes. Hilltop is an upscale neighborhood, with many homes in the area designed by architects and built by Denver’s finest builders.

Driving Times to Major Destinations from Hill Top and Crestmoor

Denver International Airport (DIA): 40 minutes
Downtown Denver: 15 minutes
Denver Technological Center (DTC): 20 minutes
Inverness/Meridian: 25 minutes
Boulder: 60 minutes
Castle Rock: 40 minutes