Northwest Denver

The locals refer to it as LoDo, short for Lower Downtown, and it is actually the birthplace of Denver. Gold was discovered in 1858 at the confluence of Cherry Creek and the Platte River, an area inhabited by Native Americans. The still disputed Treaty of Fort Wise provided that the area which is now Denver would become part of the United Six Months after William Green Russell’s party discovered gold in the South Platte River at Cherry Creek, and only weeks after General William Larimer founded Denver City; the ambitious General forded the not quite frozen Platte to stake out the first of many towns that would later become the Northwest area of Denver. The new town would be called Highland. By 1862, Highland had been officially renamed North Denver after the merger of Denver City, Auraria, and Highland. Highland Park was organized in 1875, with its twisting street laid out West of Zuni Street and North of 29th Avenue. Caithness, Dunkeld, Argyle and a few other Scottish named streets still remain from that early development, which by 1890 had been incorporated along with 35 other subdivisions into the town of Highlands.

Highlands

Still independent of Denver, Highlands Town was separated from the big city by Zuni Street (then Gallup Street) and the Platte River, the Southern boundary was South Golden Road (Colfax), with the West limits being the Jefferson County Line. A city hall was constructed at the Southwest corner of 26th and Federal, now the site of Denver Fire Station 12. Federal was simply referred to as “The Boulevard”, becoming Federal after the annexation by Denver in 1904. At this time the political rivalry between Denver and Highlands became very heated. The problem for Highlands was access to Denver, where the jobs were. Highlands, with its gracious and crime free lifestyle kept thumbing its nose at Denver with its railroad yards, tanneries, mills, and a famous “Red Light” district, inciting the ire of Denver Mayor Wolfe Londoner. Londoner simply told the poorly connected citizens of Highlands that the price of a viaduct across the rail yards and the Platte was annexation. So, in 1896, the Town of Highlands became part of Denver.

Argo, Berkeley, Grandview, etc.

Many other developments and small towns became part of Denver. Colfax, stringing west along today’s Colfax Avenue, was largely settled by Denver’s Jewish community and today has the remains of the Voorhees addition at Colfax and Stuart. This community was annexed in 1895. Argo was built around the Argo gold smelter at 46th Avenue and approximately Inca Street. The smelter was built by Nathaniel Hill to process gold from Central City, and the town grew with the arrival of railroad workers to go with the smelter employees. The workers were mostly immigrant’s, largely Swede’s, with a smattering of people from about everywhere in Europe. Argo became part of Denver in 1903, after the state legislature made Denver a Separate County in 1902.

The North boundary line was 52nd Avenue, thus Argo disappeared in to the larger city. Berkeley was first named by John Walker, the developer of a large alfalfa farm who had once lived in Berkeley Springs, Virginia. After donating 50 acres of his farm to what is now Regis College, he sold the farm to a Kansas City syndicate that began to develop the area for housing. That area was incorporate in 1892 as “The Town of North Denver”, renamed Berkeley in 1898, and became part of Denver in 1902 along with the rest of what is now Northwest Denver. Such areas as Harkness Heights, Grandview and others were simply swept into Denver with the creation of Denver County and City by legislative fiat.

Today, Northwest Denver is a vibrant and diverse area with new building construction and restoration projects in abundance. Parts of General Larimers early Highland plat are now within walking distance of new developments in the central Platte River valley. Newly built loft buildings coexist with old commercial buildings reclaimed as residences. Many of the fine old homes have been restored and updated, and charming shopping areas have become gathering places for local residents. The old Elitch Gardens amusement park has been redeveloped into modern, upscale housing, and the whole area has become a great place to live, remarkably convenient to Downtown Denver.

Driving Distance from 32nd and Federal in the center of Northwest Denver to:

Boulder: 40 minutes
Denver International Airport (DIA): 40 minutes
Denver Technological Center (DTC): 30 minutes
Inverness/Meridian: 40 minutes
Downtown Denver: 10 minutes