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Stunning Historical Photos of Denver at the Turn of the 20th Century

By 1900, the mad rush of the 1858 Gold Rush had long died down, but its reverberations could still be felt in every corner of Denver. The city had been molded by the dreams of thousands who flocked to Colorado’s front range in search of fortune. While many left empty-handed, they laid the groundwork for a bustling metropolis. They built roads, homes, saloons, and set the commercial heartbeat of Denver into motion.

Unsinkable” Molly Brown: Denver’s Darling

Mention Denver in the 1900s, and you can’t overlook the indomitable spirit of Margaret “Molly” Brown. Post gold rush, she and her husband struck it rich with silver, and soon, she was Denver’s darling philanthropist. Although she’s widely known for surviving the Titanic sinking in 1912, Denver remembers her for her relentless efforts in social reform, women’s rights, and philanthropy.

Denver’s Architectural Renaissance

The turn of the century witnessed an architectural rebirth in Denver. Daniel Burnham, famed for his “City Beautiful” movement, inspired the locals. The iconic Brown Palace Hotel, with its opulent atrium, stands testament to the grandeur of the times. Furthermore, neighborhoods such as Capitol Hill began filling with the mansions of the city’s nouveau riche, a blend of Victorian, Colonial Revival, and other popular styles of the time.

Electric Streetcars and the City’s Pulse

The hum of electric streetcars replaced the clip-clop of horses. Denverites could now travel with relative ease from neighborhood to neighborhood. This not only transformed the city’s geography but also its socio-economic landscape. New suburbs blossomed, and with them came theaters, parks, and schools.

A Cultural Mosaic in the Making

Denver was not just a gold and silver town by the 1900s. It had started to attract an array of diverse communities. From Italian immigrants in Northwest Denver to the Jewish community in West Colfax, the city became a melting pot of cultures, traditions, and cuisines. This cultural infusion enriched Denver’s fabric, with music, art, and festivals sprouting in every corner.

#1 Denver County Courthouse at 15th and Tremont Street, featuring pedestrians and a street car, 1902

#2 Passengers ride on Denver Tramway cars No. 74 and 63 at West 38th Avenue and Tennyson Street, Denver, 1900

#3 Italianate-style Haish Manual Training School at the University of Denver, located at 14th and Arapahoe Streets, 1900.

#4 Denver Republican Newspaper building at 1118 16th Street, featuring pedestrians and storefronts, 1900s

#5 Workers dismantle old Denver Tramway Company cars, emitting smoke from the debris, 1900s

#6 Denver and Rio Grande Railroad engine No. 701 arrives at Union Station with a view of tracks and buildings, 1900s

#7 Boys in a woodworking workshop at Denver Orphans’ Home, showcasing worktables and lumber racks, 1900s

#8 View of 17th Street from Union Station, featuring Welcome Arch and Hendrie-Bolthoff building, 1906

#9 ‘ on 30th Avenue and Zuni Street, featuring the “Wheat Ridge” sign, 1900

#10 Construction site for Denver Tramway’s storage yard at Jason Avenue and Bayaud Street, 1904

#12 Exterior of Saint Anthony’s Hospital at West 16th Avenue and Quitman Street, founded by the Sisters of St. Francis Seraph, 1905.

#13 West Denver High School women’s basketball team with their coach, featuring ‘W’ on their uniforms, 1908.

#14 Pedestrians and buggies near the Denver County Courthouse, formerly known as Arapahoe County Courthouse, 1900s

#15 View of Tremont Street featuring Trinity Methodist Church, Republic Building, and YWCA among others, 1900s

#16 Denver Tramway trolley No. 112 in front of Brown Palace Hotel with various signs, 1905.

#17 Denver Tramway trolleys at Colfax Street and Broadway, featuring Denver Fire Department’s Engine House No. One, 1905.

#18 Girls sewing in a classroom at the Denver Orphans’ Home on Albion Street, 1900s

#19 Men in a ward of Denver General Hospital with empty beds and curtains, 1900s

#20 View of 18th Street featuring various businesses and Denver Cable Car power plant, 1900

#21 Construction site near South Platte River, featuring Pride of the Rockies Flour Mill and 20th Street Viaduct, 1900s

#22 Engine House Number One being dismantled at the corner of Colfax and Broadway, featuring stagecoach and flags, 1909.

#23 Victorian house at 1st Avenue and Grant Street, featuring Denver Tramway trolley and horse-drawn coach, 1905.

#24 Denver Tramway trolley No. 230 in front of Union Station, featuring advertisement for Broadway play, 1905.

#25 American Furniture Company warehouse at 1542 Lawrence Street, featuring horse-drawn wagons, 1905.

#26 Leyden Mine coal trains with Denver & Northwestern Railway cars, featuring Alcott Public School, 1905.

#27 Denver Tramway trolley at the entrance to Elitch Gardens on West 38th Avenue, flanked by billboards, 1905.

#28 Denver Tramway “Seeing The Foothills” trolley on 17th Street, featuring Brown Palace and Savoy Hotel, 1905.

#29 Columned gateway at 4th Avenue and Franklin Street in the Denver Country Club neighborhood, 1907

#30 Governor Henry Augustus Buchtel speaks at Denver Public Library cornerstone ceremony, 1907.

#31 Panoramic View of Denver from the Capitol Building, showcasing landmarks like Denver Fire Department Engine House No. 1 and St. Elizabeth Church, 1907

#32 Boys Marching in a Denver Parade, showcasing Juvenile Improvement Association Denver Post Boys Band, 1907

#33 Men and Medical Staff in the Tuberculosis Ward at Denver General Hospital, 1907

#34 Lily Pond and Rock Garden at Washington Park, Denver, 1900s

#35 Women and Girl in a Canoe on Smith Lake, Washington Park, Denver, 1900

#36 Children Playing Croquet at Detention Home School, Denver, 1903.

#37 Larimer Street and Pioneer Building, an Italianate Style Structure, Denver, 1900s

#38 Denver City Cable Railway Company Cable House, 1906.

#39 Ernest and Cranmer Building with Various Businesses, Denver, 1905

#40 Apartments at 12th and Pennsylvania Streets, Featuring a Portico with Columns, Denver, 1909.

#41 Denver Bears Baseball Team with Identified Members, 1900s

#42 Denver Turnverein Meeting Hall, showcasing its brick architecture and arched entry, 1900

#44 Intersection of Speer Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue, featuring a horse trough and landscaping, Denver, 1900s

#45 Yard at 742 South Emerson Street with a Girl Feeding Chickens, Denver, 1907.

#46 Street Cleaning Parade at Broadway and 16th Streets, Denver, 1905

#47 Street Cleaning Division with Flushing Machines in Parade, Denver, 1905

#48 Denver Club Building, a Victorian Romanesque Style Structure, 1900.

#49 Street Sprinkling Department in Parade, Denver, 1905

#50 Panoramic View of Denver with Landmarks like the Arapahoe County Courthouse, 1900s

#51 Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Employees Posing by a Boxcar, 1900s

#52 Cheesman Memorial Pavilion in Cheesman Park, Denver, 1909

#54 Cheesman Park Memorial Pavilion and Landscaping, Denver, 1909.

#55 16th Street from Arapahoe Street Featuring Tabor Opera House, Denver, 1907.

#56 Businesses on 16th Street Viewed from Stout Street, Denver, 1905

#57 Street Scene at 16th and Lawrence Streets, Denver, 1900s

#59 Denver Tramway trolleys at the intersection of 17th and California, featuring various businesses and pedestrians, 1905.

#60 Trolley number 200 on 17th Avenue and Emerson Street, featuring young girls on the corner, 1905.

#61 Girls by City Park Lake, people at pavilion benches, and a band performing, 1905.

#62 Speer Boulevard under construction, featuring horse and mule-drawn grading equipment, 1900s

#63 Trolleys number 45 and 42 at 16th and Champa, featuring various business signs and traffic, 1905.

#64 Arapahoe County Courthouse at 16th and Tremont, built in 1883 and later razed in 1934, 1902.

#65 Trolleys number 36 and 333 on 15th Street, featuring various business signs and pedestrians, 1905.

#66 Men shaking hands outside Albany Hotel, featuring railroad signs and a barbershop pole, 1900s

#67 Furnaces and machinery inside the Denver Tramway Company power station, 1905.

#68 Denver Tramway Power house and South Platte River, featuring 14th Street viaduct, 1905.

#69 View down 15th Street from Welton, featuring various modes of transport, 1900

#70 Trolley number 237 on Broadway, featuring various landmarks and billboards, 1905.

#71 Trolley number 67 at Union Station on 16th Street viaduct, featuring a covered stop, 1905.

#72 Moffat Road Station, featuring parked cars and billboards, 1905

#73 Businesses on Blake Street, featuring various types of signage, 1905

#74 Workers inside the Denver Tramway Company machine shop, 1900s

#75 Denver Tramway Company supply yard, featuring stacks of lumber and stone, 1900s

#76 Walter Scott Cheesman’s residence, later known as Governor’s Mansion, featuring Colonial Revival architecture, 1908

#77 Denver and Rio Grande ticket office in Albany Hotel, featuring pedestrians and newsboys, 1909.

#78 View of 17th Street, featuring pedestrians and a streetcar, 1900s

#79 Denver Public Library construction, featuring stone walls and John A. McIntyre, 1906.

#80 Denver Dry Goods building, featuring early automobiles and various signs, 1908.

#81 Denver Public Library construction, featuring stone entablature and steel girders, 1907.

#82 Denver’s new motor street cleaner and motor trucks, featuring men posing, 1900s

#83 Denver City Hall on 14th Street, featuring a trolley car and bicycles, 1900s

#84 Boulevard United Presbyterian Church, featuring a bell tower and stained-glass windows, 1900s

#85 African American man and woman on horseback participate in a parade on 17th Street, Denver, Colorado, marching band and U.S. flags visible, 1900s

#86 Marching band and spectators during a parade on 17th Street, Denver, featuring a banner for the National Association of Civil War Musicians, 1900s

#87 Parade on 17th Street, Denver with marching band, spectators, and signs on buildings for various businesses, 1900s

#88 Exterior of Young Women’s Christian Association building in Denver, adjacent to brick residences, built in 1899 and demolished in 1971

#89 Ice skating on Smith Lake at Washington Park, Denver, with spectators near the boat pavilion, 1900

#90 Crane from Colorado and Southern Railway works on new bridge over Alameda Avenue, Denver, spectators and boxcars in distance, 1909.

#91 Rooftop view of Denver Post Office at 16th and Arapahoe Street, streetcars and pedestrians visible, 1900s

#92 Night view of Golden Eagle Dry Goods Store at 16th and Lawrence Streets, Denver, featuring electric lights, 1901

#93 Men pose by concrete forms during flood control construction in Denver, 1900s

#94 McLellan Gate at City Park, Denver, showing cars and pedestrians, completed in 1904

#95 Denver Municipal Auditorium featuring a stone building with domes, 1908

#96 Children pose outside Denver Post office, possibly delivery boys and girls, with a dog, 1900s

#97 Exterior of Denver High School featuring Victorian Gothic architecture, located at 19th and Stout Streets, 1900s

#98 Construction of Denver Public Library halted by snow, Civic Center and Engine House Number One in background, 1900s

#99 Denver Public Library construction site featuring crane and snow-covered materials, Civic Center houses visible, 1900s

#100 Cornerstone ceremony at Denver Public Library construction site, crowd and automobile visible, 1900s

#101 Neighborhood House Association building in Lincoln Park, Denver, woman and children on porch, 1902.

#102 Apartments in Denver featuring porticos with columns, 1909.

#103 Worker at Omaha-Grant smelter in Denver drawing slag from an oven, 1900s

#104 St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Denver, featuring classical architecture, 1900s

#105 Governor Henry Buchtel speaking at Denver Public Library cornerstone ceremony, U.S. flag in background, 1900s

#106 Shorter African Methodist Episcopal Church in Denver, featuring stone trim and gothic arches, 1900s

#107 Rabbi Friedman makes invocation at cornerstone ceremony for Denver Public Library, crowd visible, 1900s

#108 View of McLellan Gate at City Park, Denver, horse-drawn buggy and streetlight visible, 1904

#109 Intersection of Glenarm and 15th Streets in Denver, pedestrians and streetcars visible, 1900s

#110 Denver City Tramway Central Loop at 15th and Arapahoe Streets, trolley approaching passenger pavilion, 1900s

#111 Intersection of 15th and Glenarm Streets in Denver, featuring cars, a streetcar, and Christmas trees, 1900s

#112 St. Paul’s English Lutheran Church in Denver, featuring gothic arches and stained glass, 1900s

#113 Dean Peck’s Training School for Girls in Denver, stone building with arched windows, 1900s

#114 Exterior View of Denver Municipal Auditorium, Neoclassical Features and Horse-Drawn Carriage, 1900s

#115 Denver Public Library at Colfax Avenue and Bannock Street with Seal Fountain Nearby, 1909

#116 Residential Pennsylvania Street in Denver Showcasing Brick Houses and Young Trees, 1900

#117 Firemen Posing in Front of Denver Fire Department Headquarters at City Hall, 1900s

#118 Denver Sanitation Street Sweepers at Broadway and 16th Streets, 1905

#119 Street Oiling in Denver, Kids Watch as Truck Applies Oil, 1905

#120 Women Working in Denver Public Library’s Catalog Department, 1900s

#121 Children at Elyria Park Playground in Poorer Section of Denver, 1900s

#122 Panorama of Denver from State Capitol Building, 1900s

#123 16th and Stout Streets in Downtown Denver with Christmas Decorations, 1900s

#124 Denver Tramway Car 190 on Busy 16th Street, 1900s

#125 Third Congregational Church at West 5th Avenue and Fox Street, 1900s

#126 Two-Story Residence in Denver with Covered Porch and Gable Roof, 1900s

#127 Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railway at Pine, Colorado, 1900s

#128 Berkeley Park Beach on Berkeley Lake, Denver, 1900s

#129 Houses on Acoma Street with Covered Porches and Metal Fences, 1900s

#130 Houses at 1445 and 1447 Acoma Street in Civic Center, Denver, 1900s

#131 Man and Woman in Canoe on City Park Lake, Denver Museum in Distance, 1900s

#132 “Seeing Denver” Electric Tour Coach at 17th and Tremont Street, 1900s

#133 Denver City Tramway Car near Union Station, 1909

#134 Construction Crew Working Near Alameda Avenue Bridge, 1900s

#135 H. D. Martin Undertaking Co. on West Colfax Avenue, 1900s

#136 Denver Tramway Trolley by Kittredge Building on 16th Street, 1905

#137 Denver Tramway Trolley on West 23rd Avenue, 1905

#138 Stout Street in Denver with Cars and Denver Tramway Streetcar, 1900s

#139 View from 17th Street to Tremont Place, Denver, 1907

#140 Cherry Creek and Lawrence Street Bridge, Denver, 1907

#141 People Near East Denver High School at 19th and Stout Streets, 1900s

#142 Denver Tramway Garage on Gilpin Street, Workers Posing, 1905

#143 Morse Brothers Machinery & Supply Co. at 18th & Lawrence, 1905

#144 Denver Tramway trolleys on 15th Street featuring signs like “John Thompson Grocery Co.”, 1905.

#145 DTC Park Hill trolley 230 on 17th Street, featuring signs like “Boston Lunch”, 1905.

#146 Trolley 152 on Bannock Street with Colorado General Hospital in background, 1905.

#147 U.S. Post Office on 16th and Arapahoe Streets, featuring Second Empire style architecture, 1905.

#148 Saint Mary’s Academy, Capitol Hill, Denver featuring stone trim and a cross, 1900s

#149 DTC trolleys on 38th at Tennyson, featuring Leyden Coal Co. sign, 1905.

#150 DTC garage on 38th Avenue with Leyden Coal Co. and Wilcox Drug store, 1905.

#151 Interior of DTC garage on 4th Avenue, featuring trolleys number 195, 151, 72, and 240, 1905.

#152 DTC trolley 339 on Colfax Avenue near Lawrence C. Phipps home, 1905.

#153 Oakes Home on West 32nd Avenue, opened in September 1895, 1904

#154 DTC garage on 30th Avenue featuring trolley number 63, 1905.

#155 Freemason Temple, South Denver Lodge Number 93, 1907.

#157 Fireman’s Race For Life filming on 16th Street, 1902.

#158 Unknown DTC station featuring trolleys Lawrence Street 214, Larimer Street 183, 1905.

#159 DTC trolleys at 15th Street stop between Arapahoe & Lawrence, 1905.

#160 East Denver High School students outside the building, 1900s

#161 McPhee Building on 17th and Glenarm, featuring early automobiles, 1906.

#162 Denver Tramway Company supply yard with lumber and steel tracks, 1900s

#164 17th Street featuring Denver City Tramway Company car 236, 1900s

#165 15th Street on a busy day featuring car number 358, 1908

#166 Campsite at Rocky Mountain Lake, Berkeley neighborhood, 1900s

#167 Denver Public Library construction in Civic Center, 1906.

#168 Denver Tramway Company car 63 at Berkeley Loop, 1900s

#169 Cornerstone ceremony at Denver Public Library, 1907.

#170 Denver Public Library construction, northeastern corner, 1907.

#171 Denver Public Library construction, Civic Center neighborhood, 1907.

#172 Denver General Hospital and Home For Nurses, 1900s

#173 Boys in front of Denver Boys Club classroom, 1900s

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Written by Kevin Clark

Kevin Clark is a historian and writer who is passionate about sharing the stories and significance behind historical photos. He loves to explore hidden histories and cultural contexts behind the images, providing a unique insight into the past.

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