History · Denver

Denver has 324 places on the National Register

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #11 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

Dated to 1858 (Wikidata), with 17% of its homes built before 1940 and 36 historic districts holding 4,360 contributing buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, the census since 1860, and every listing on the Register.

1858founded

324on the National Register

17%homes built before 1940

10old photos & papers

34famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Denver’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Denver began

When was Denver founded?

1858

Denver dates its founding to 1858 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 4,749 in 18602020 census: 715,522168 years

How historic is Denver?

A⁻

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1866.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Denver’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Denver is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #11 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Denver’s overall grade.

Founding era1858, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 194016.9% of homes (±0.5) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%B National Register324 listings, 4,360 historic buildings, 60.7 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4A⁺

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 76%

NewerOlder

Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 94%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Denver ranks #142 on History.

Few Colorado towns list much on the Register (a typical Colorado town has 1.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Denver’s 60.7 sits above most of its state (91% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 4,360 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1858.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Denver’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A National Historic Landmark324 places on the National Register, including Denver Civic Center, a National Historic Landmark.A historic districtThe Park Hill takes in 1,124 historic buildings.Lost villages9 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Denver, and 13 old place names are still on the map.Mapped building by building9 fire insurance maps, 1887 to 1904, drew every building in Denver.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

324 listings protect 4,360 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

324

National Historic Landmark

Denver Civic Center

historic buildings protected

4,360

each building in a district counts

first listed

1969

Emmanuel Shearith Israel Chapel

BuildingsDistrictsStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne31

Classical Revival15

Italian Renaissance14

Italianate14

Colonial Revival14

Richardsonian Romanesque12

Emmanuel Shearith Israel ChapelRomanesque · Built 1876

St. Elizabeth's ChurchGerman-Gothic

Colorado Governor's MansionItalian Renaissance · Built 1908

Daniels and Fisher TowerItalian Renaissance · Built 1911

Four-Mile HouseBuilt 1859

Brown Palace HotelBuilding

Trinity United Methodist ChurchGothic · Built 1887

Byers-Evans HouseVictorian · Built 1880

All 325 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Denver’s post office has been open since 1866. Nine other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Denver

1866–today

Highlands

1884–1897

Lyman

1885–1895

Montclair

1888–1912

South Denver

1889–1896

Valverde

1889–1908

University Park

1890–1915

Elyria

1895–1904

Alcott

1896–1904

Stockyards

1898–1904

18601940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Alamo PlacitaBear ValleyBear Valley HeightsCollege ViewFive PointsHighland ParkMontbelloRuby HillSandownUniversity HillsUniversity ParkWellshireWestside Neighborhood

Gone or out of use

Alameda SchoolschoolAlcott SchoolschoolAshland SchoolschoolBelmont SchoolschoolBeth Israel HospitalhospitalBethany Christian ChurchchurchBethesda PsycHealth HospitalhospitalBoettcher SchoolschoolBooth Memorial HospitalhospitalBoulevard SchoolschoolBox Elder SchoolschoolByers Alternative High SchoolschoolByers Elementary SchoolschoolCathedral High SchoolschoolChrist Triumphant Lutheran ChurchchurchColorado Psychiatric HospitalhospitalConvent of the Good ShepherdchurchCure d'Ars Schoolschool

6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Denver

Emanuel Cemetery at FairmountFairmountFairmount MortuaryFort Logan NationalOlinger Hampden Memorial GardensThe Cremation Gardens at Rocky Mountain Memorial Park

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Denver came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Denver.

Read it all →

The greater Denver area was inhabited by several Indigenous peoples such as Apaches, Utes, Cheyennes, Comanches, and Arapahoes. By the terms of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie between the United States and various tribes including the Cheyenne and Arapaho, the United States unilaterally defined and recognized Cheyenne and Arapaho territory as ranging from the North Platte River in present-day Wyoming and Nebraska southward to the Arkansas River in present-day Colorado and Kansas. This definition specifically encompasses the land of modern Metropolitan Denver. But the discovery in November 1858 of gold in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado (then part of the western Kansas Territory) brought on a gold rush and a consequent flood of white immigration across Cheyenne and Arapaho lands. Colorado territorial officials pressured federal authorities to redefine and reduce the extent of Indian trea…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Denver in 1870

Passages that mention Denver, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The land grant, under the acts of Congress, extends the whole length ot the present line, from the initial point to the junction with the Union Pacific railroad west of Denver. By authority of Congress, the lands and franchises of that portion of the line from Denver to the junction with the Union … — The Rocky Mountain directory and Colorado gazetteer, for 1871, comprising a brief history of Colorado ... together with a complete and accurate directory of Denver, Golden City, Black Hawk, Central City, Nevada, Idaho, Georgetown ... First year of publica1870 · page 120Read the page →
Read the text
The land grant, under the acts of Congress, extends the whole length ot the present line, from the initial point to the junction with the Union Pacific railroad west of Denver. By authority of Congress, the lands and franchises of that portion of the line from Denver to the junction with the Union Pacific railroad at Cheyenne, a distance of 106 miles, were transferred to the Denver Pacific railroad and Telegraph Company, which is now completed and in operation from Denver to Cheyenne, making another through line to the Pacific ocean.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Denver, 1858 to 2012

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1858
FoundingDenver is established
1859BuiltFour-Mile House is built
1866Post officeThe Denver post office opens
1876BuiltEmmanuel Shearith Israel Chapel is built
1883Born hereDouglas Fairbanks is born here
1884Post officeThe Highlands post office opens
1885Post officeThe Lyman post office opens
1890In the archiveDenver, Colorado
1895Post officeThe Lyman post office closes
1897Post officeThe Highlands post office closes
20th century
1900In the archiveColorado State Capitol
1908BuiltColorado Governor's Mansion is built
1911BuiltDaniels and Fisher Tower is built
1934Born hereJohn L. Hall is born here
1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1962Born hereDavid Fincher is born here
1993Born hereAnnaSophia Robb is born here
21st century
2012LandmarkDenver Civic Center named a National Historic Landmark

By decade

Denver, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s5 items

1890Denver, Colorado

1890Coors Field

1898Denver, Colorado

1900s5 items

1900Colorado State Capitol

1900Inspiration Point

1906Colorado State Capitol

1906Union Depot

1908Denver, Colorado, at sunrise

1910s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

On the map

Denver on the map, 1940 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Denver. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1940Englewood sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Denver.

Every building

Denver, building by building, 1887–1904

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Denver fire insurance map, 1887, sheet 2

1887Sheet 2 of 42

Edition

Sheets

+41 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewDenver, Colorado, 1890

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Denver’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Denver, census by census

Grew from 4,749 people in 1860 to 715,522 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Denver’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

34 famous people were born in Denver

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

David FincherAmerican film director · b. 1962

John L. HallAmerican physicist · b. 1934

Douglas FairbanksAmerican actor, screenwriter, director, and pro… · b. 1883

AnnaSophia RobbAmerican actress · b. 1993

John SearleAmerican philosopher · b. 1932

Paul M. RomerAmerican economist · b. 1955

Help out

Finish Denver’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewDenver, Colorado: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lakewood7 historic placesC⁺Aurora10 historic placesC Four Square MileIts storyD Englewood5 historic placesB Bow MarIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town North WashingtonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Commerce City1 historic placeC BerkleyIts storyC⁻Littleton7 historic placesB⁻Greenwood Village1 historic placeD

Questions about Denver’s history

What year was Denver founded?

In 1858, according to Wikidata. Denver’s post office opened in 1866, and the census of 1860 counted 4,749 people here.

How does Denver rank for history?

Denver is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #11 of 159 in Colorado. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Denver?

324 listings: 262 buildings, among them the Denver Civic Center (a National Historic Landmark since 2012) and the Emmanuel Shearith Israel Chapel (listed 1969, the first), 36 historic districts with 4,033 contributing buildings, and 27 structures. 4,360 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Denver?

17% of Denver’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1975.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From the Library of Congress (10), Wikidata (20), the National Register of Historic Places (325), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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