Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Timeline of Denver

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Remove ads

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Denver, Colorado, United States, from its founding in 1858 to the present.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Thumb
Denver
Denver
Location of Denver in the United States of America.

1800s

1857 to 1879

  • 1857
    • Summer: Mexican gold miners create small settlement at about present day Alameda Avenue on the South Platte River in what is now Denver.[1]
  • 1858
    • September 24: A group of squatters draw up an agreement to found the St. Charles Town Association in what is now downtown Denver.[2]
    • November 1: The settlement of Auraria, Kansas Territory founded in the low ground near the confluence of the Platte and Cherry Creek.[3]
    • November 22: Denver City founded east of Cherry Creek as a rival to Auraria, displacing the St. Charles Association.[4][2]
  • 1859
    • The first burial ground, the Mount Prospect Cemetery (later called the Old Denver City Cemetery) was established.[5]
    • John C. Moore becomes mayor.[6]
    • April 23: Rocky Mountain News begins publication.[7]
    • May 7: First stagecoaches of the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Stage Company arrive in Denver.[8]
    • October 3: The first school, a private institution founded by O.J. Goldrick, opens for classes in Auraria on 12th Street between Market and Larimer Streets.[9]
  • 1860
    Thumb
    Illustration of Denver in 1860
    • Population of the City: 4,749[10]
    • Construction of the first canal called, the "Big Ditch", to deliver water to the city begun by the Capitol Hydraulic Company.[11]
    • January – Denver Police Department established by Mayor Moore, replacing Denver Marshals.[12]
    • April 6: Moonlight ceremony on Larimer Street bridge over Cherry Creek unites Auraria with Denver City.[1]
    • May 18: Barney Ford, who later became an important civil rights activist, arrives in Denver for the first time.[13]
    • July – Clark, Gruber & Co. a privately owned gold brokerage and mint, produces the first coins in Colorado.[14]
    • September – "People's Government" formed in the Apollo Hall Saloon in Larimer Square.[15]
    • October 6: James Gordon executed by hanging for the drunken murder of German immigrant Jacob Gantz by order of the "People's Court" and Alexander Cameron Hunt presiding as judge.[16]
  • 1861
    • Denver City becomes part of Colorado Territory.
    • November 19: "People's Government" of Denver replaced by the territorial government.[17]
  • 1863
    • Telegraph begins operating.[18]
    • April 19: Fire destroys much of Downtown and results in laws requiring new buildings to be made of brick.[19][20]
  • 1864
    Thumb
    Flood on Cherry Creek 19 May 1864
  • 1867
    • Colorado Tribune newspaper begins publication.[25]
    • Platte Water Company finishes the "Big Ditch" to provide Denver with water, terminating in Smith Lake in what is today Washington Park.[11]
    • December – Legislature of Colorado Territory votes to relocate to Denver City from Golden City.[26]
  • 1868
  • 1870
  • 1871
    Thumb
    Horse tram to Cook's Addition in 1891
    • December 17: Denver Horse Railroad the first rail transit service begins operating, changing its name in the next year to the Denver City Railway Co.[31]
  • 1873 – Palace Theater, a gambling and entertainment establishment, opened by Ed Chase.[32]
  • 1875 – East High School opens as part of the Arapahoe School.[33]
  • 1876
  • 1878
    Thumb
    Evans Chapel c. 1880–1890
  • 1879
    • Typhoid fever outbreak sickens more than 600 residents and kills at least 40. First of six significant outbreaks that occur through 1896 due to contaminated water.[36]
    • February 24: first telephone exchange in city opens, one of the first 25 in the world.[37]
    • July 11: State Historical and Natural History Society of Colorado, later History Colorado headquartered in Denver.[38]
    • September 1: Delivery of mail to addresses starts in Denver with six mail carriers.[39]

1880 to 1899

  • 1880
    Thumb
    The Denver Club in 1890
    • Population of the City: 35,629
      50th most populous US city. First time in 100 most populous cities in the US.[40]
    • Denver Club, a private gentleman's club founded by leading wealthy residents.[41]
  • 1881
    Thumb
    Tabor Grand Opera House, c. 1888
  • 1882
    • High Line Canal opens to provide water to agricultural areas south of Denver.[45]
    • February 18: Purchase of land for City Park approved by Denver City Council.[46]
    • December – Colorado Scientific Society founded in Denver, not incorporated until January 1885.[38]
  • 1883
    • First St. Patrick's Day parade organized by Father Joseph P. Carrigan.[47]
    • Second City Hall completed.[48]
    • Arapahoe County Courthouse completed on 16th and Tremont Streets. It served until 1902 when Denver was separated from the county.[49]
  • 1884
  • 1885
    • November – Mercantile Library, a predecessor of the Public Library, opened by the Denver Chamber of Commerce.[52]
  • 1886
  • 1887
    • College of the Sacred Heart (later renamed Regis University) relocates to Denver.[58]
    • February 28: Congress votes to establish an army base near Denver, later named Fort Logan, due to the petitioning of the citizens of the city.[59]
  • 1889
    • Construction of the Boston Building, Denver's first modern office building begins.[60]
    • Denver Athletic Club's historic clubhouse is built.[61]
    • July 30: Soapy Smith assaults and injures Rocky Mountain News editor John Arkins. The News declares a crusade to rid Denver of the bad man, which took a decade to complete.[62]
    • November: Permission granted to Citizens' Water Company to go into competition with the established Denver Water Company to build a system to provide water to the city.[63]
  • 1890
    Thumb
    Poster for Elitch Gardens
    • Population of the City: 106,713
      26th most populous US city.[40]
    • Mount Prospect, the Denver City Cemetery, closed to further burials.[64]
    • April 8: Construction of the Masonic Temple begins at 16th and Welton Streets.[65]
    • May 1: Elitch Gardens amusement venue opens.[66]
  • 1891
  • 1892
    • The Denver Post newspaper begins publication as the Evening Post.[25]
    • January: The competing town of Brooklyn incorporated an area inside the town of Colfax setting up a six month fight that was ultimately won by the town of Colfax.[68]
    • August 12: Brown Palace Hotel opens.[69]
  • 1893
    • Denver's oldest continuously operating restaurant, the Buckhorn Exchange opens under the name "The Rio Grande Exchange".[70]
    • Denver government orders all bodies to be removed from the old City Cemetery.[71]
    • Denver Artist Club, which later became the Denver Art Museum founded.[72]
    • June – Silver prices fall from $1.05 per ounce to 83¢ per ounce, starting the Denver Depression.[73]
    • July
      • 18: Six Denver banks fail.[73]
      • 19: Three more banks suspend payments.[73]
  • 1894
    Thumb
    Colorado State Capitol c. 1901-1902
    • Citizens' Water Company purchases and merges with rival taking the new name, the Denver Union Water Company.[74]
    • February 7: South Denver annexed by the city.[75]
    • Colorado State Capitol building complete, Governor Davis Hanson Waite moves his office to the building.[54]
    • March 15: Governor Waite orders state militiamen to march on Denver City Hall to remove the Police and Fire Commissioners in what became known as the City Hall War.[76]
  • 1895
  • 1896 – Denver Zoo founded because of the gift of an orphan bear to Mayor Thomas S. McMurray.[78]
  • 1898
  • 1899
Thumb
Downtown Denver in 1898 photograph taken from state capitol towards 16th Street
Remove ads

1900s

Thumb
Crystalline gold from Farncomb Hill, near Breckenridge, Colorado.

1900 to 1919

1920 to 1939

1940 to 1959

1960 to 1979

Thumb
Denver Mile High Stadium postcard (c. 1970s-1980s)

1980 to 1999

Thumb
Republic Plaza is a skyscraper in Denver, Colorado. Rising 717 feet (219 m), the building currently stands as the tallest building in the city of Denver.
Remove ads

2000s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Thumb
Jokić and Murray with the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy
Thumb
Nuggets players celebrating during parade
Thumb
Denver Nuggets victory parade

See also

Remove ads

References

Loading content...

External links

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads