History of Colfax Avenue

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Lake Steam Baths
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Colfax Elementary School
The first Colfax Elementary was built
in 1887 as a one-room brick building.
During its first years, students came to the
school from farms and homes on Stuart St.
Since 1887, the school has served more
than four generations of local families.
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Ogden Theater • Colfax & Ogden
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Colfax Viaduct
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Before 1995 this star attraction was an
old vacant movie house.
Then a concert promoter
bought it and fixed it up
as a very popular music
venue. The old building is
still one of Denver’s most
visited places. It was also
popular in the 1930’s and
the 1940’s when it was a
visited movie house. Now
many famous people like
Smashing Pumpkins, Morphine
and James Taylor have played the
Ogden.
Greek Town
Capitol Hill State Bank
Colfax’s unique
character comes in part
from its abundance
of ethnic restaurants.
Greek Town is the only
official cultural town in
Denver. It occupies six
blocks on Colfax from St. Paul Street to
Elizabeth Street. It was officially named
Greek Town eleven years ago by the
City Council and includes an ice cream
shop, a pastry shop and other Greek
restaurants. In the heart of Greek Town
lies a Caribbean restaurant. It serves
scrumptious Caribbean food, including
their most popular pastry patty.
Colfax & York
The Capital Hill State Bank was
built in 1925 and was only used as
the Capitol Hill State Bank for one
year when scandal forced its closure.
Before 1940, it was a
regular bank. After 1940
it became a ladies clothing
store and has always
been an important Colfax
landmark. The building
currently houses The
Bank Bar and Grill.
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Aurora grew slowly until
the opening of Fitzsimons Army
Hospital and Denver Municipal
Airport. After World War II the
town grew quickly due to Lowry
Air Base, Buckley Field and the
Rocky Mountain Arsenal.
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Colfax & Jasmine
Hubcap Annie’s
and is one of the
businesses on Colfax that
represents individuality and
entrepreneurialism. Hubcap
Annie’s is owned by Jane
Withers. Painted in bright
yellow, Hubcap Annie’s is located
on the southern side of Colfax and
Jasmine Street. It has been open
for 24 years and contains over
25,000 different kinds of hubcaps.
When interviewed, Jane said “I love
Colfax, it’s different and it has a
strange beat.”
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Aurora Fox
The Aurora Fox Theater was built in 1946 as a
movie theater. It was one of the first commercial buildings
built after World War II. The theater’s popularity led to the
development of Aurora’s downtown. The stores that lined
the Colfax portion of downtown included Penny’s, Joslins,
Fashion Bar, Miller’s Grocery, Hesteds and Woolworth’s.
In the early 1980’s a fire closed the theater. The newly
renovated theater reopened in 1985 and changed its focus
to live theater. Today, it is home of the Aurora Fox Theater
Company and the Aurora Fox Children’s Theater Company
and is now celebrating it’s 21st season.
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Colorado
Boulevard
York Street
Downing
Street
Lincoln
Street
Federal
Boulevard
Kipling
Street
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Simms
Street
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Hubcap Annie’s
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marathon
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Youngsfield
Street
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Fitzsimons Army Hospital
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City Park
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Colfax & Adams
Opened in 1913 as a small movie house, the Bluebird
Theater has survived various incarnations. It was initially
called the Thompson Theater, named after John Thompson,
its first owner. The theater was so successful that Thompson
expanded his operation to include the Ogden Theater and
others along Colfax in the 1920s. During the Depression,
customers were treated to cash giveaways and other enticing
offers. In 1994 it was refurbished and restored. The threetiered theater now serves as a multi-purpose venue hosting
a diverse group of national
acts, emerging recording
artists, and the hottest local
bands.
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Tower
Road
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Donald Fletcher founded Aurora in 1891. It was thought of
as a “trolley town” and he named the town Fletcher after himself.
However, after the Silver Crash of 1893 he fled town, leaving the
residents with outstanding bond payments and other problems.
The angry residents immediately changed the name to Aurora.
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Aurora History
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Colfax & Jackson
The Fisher Brothers, who designed
many buildings around Denver, designed
the Mediterranean style National Jewish
Hospital on the corner of Colorado
Boulevard and Colfax in 1926. Frances
Wisebart Jacobs and Rabbi
William Sterne Friedman
founded the hospital to
serve the many people
who moved to Colorado
hoping the climate would
cure them of tuberculosis.
At that time, TB was the
leading cause of death in
the United States. The
hospital opened on December 10, 1899.
Its slogan was “none may enter who can
pay – none can pay who enter.” National
Jewish is still a functioning hospital that
provides millions of dollars of free/heavily
subsidized care.
Colfax & Elizabeth
Across the street from East High School is the old Bonfils
Theater, which later became the Lowenstein Theater and is
now in the process of becoming a retail center, anchored by the
Tattered Cover Bookstore, a Denver
landmark in its own right. The building
was built in 1953 for the purpose of
maintaining live theater in the midst
of the success of Hollywood films.
The Bonfils served as a multipurpose
theater; presenting plays, operas,
movies, concerts, lectures and
television productions However, in
the 1960s the Denver Center for the
Performing Arts (DCPA) opened downtown. As the DCPA took
off, the Bonfils Theater suffered. It became part of the DCPA
and was later renamed the Lowenstein Theatre, but its location
far from the other theaters caused its closure.
The Bluebird
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The old Colfax Viaduct was built in
1917 for cars and trolleys. The viaduct
was built to connect
downtown Denver
and west Denver
over the South
Platte River and
the railroad tracks.
By 1983, 35,000
vehicles crossed the
viaduct daily, which was in need for repair.
The new viaduct opened in 1983.
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Colfax & Julian
In 1864, the first Girls Club
opened in Waterbury, Connecticut.
In May 1945, Girls of America (now
Girls Incorporated) was founded by
many of the original girls clubs. Girls
Inc. of Metro Denver opened in 1983
and moved to West Colfax in 1989.
In 2002 construction for the new Girls
Inc. building started and in late 2003,
the organization moved into the new
building, now a Colfax landmark.
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National Jewish
The Bonfils/Lowenstein Theater
Airport
Boulevard
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Colfax & Esplanade
In addition to the historic nature
of East High School, the City Park
Esplanade running in front of the school
connects 17th Avenue with Colfax.
Chicago architect Edward Herbert
Bennett designed the gateway at the
south end that consists of two freestanding piers, one on each side of the
motorway. The figures on the east are of
two miners. On the west are two pioneer
women. A lion head is mounted on each
wall facing
east Colfax
Avenue.
North
Chambers
Road
The Pig-N-Whistle Restaurant and Motel was a
stopping place for travelers looking for something to
eat and a place to have fun. The Pig-N-Whistle had
a swimming pool and a gift shop and cabins to stay
in overnight. Eddie Bohn, a boxer and friend of Jack
Demsey’s opened the Pig-N-Whistle in 1926. In 1991
the Pig-N-Whistle closed because when I-70 opened in
the 1970s people no longer
used Colfax as a highway to the
Rocky Mountains.
Colfax & Tennyson
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The Esplanade
Colfax & Detroit
The current East High School is the school’s
third building. It was constructed as part of the
City Beautiful Movement
of the early 20th century.
George Hebard Williamson,
a graduate of the old East
High School, was hired to
design the new building. He
won national recognition for
the Jacobean design. The
school closely resembles
the style of Philadelphia’s
Independence Hall. In
1991, East High School was
declared an official Historic
Landmark by the Denver
Landmark Commission and
the Denver City Council.
Peoria
Street
Pig-N-Whistle
Colfax & Wolff
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Girls Inc.
Sheridan
Blvd.
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East High School
Havana
Street
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Colfax & Logan
The Cathedral of Immaculate Conception is one
of the biggest Catholic churches in Denver. J.J. Brown
and his wife, the Unsinkable Molly Brown, donated
funds for the Cathedral along with J.K. Mullen,
John Campion and Dennis Sheedy. The outside
of the cathedral is made of limestone and granite
from Colorado and Indiana. The altar, statuary and
the bishop’s chair are made of marble. All seventyfive stained glass
windows came from
Munich, Germany.
The Cathedral was
finished in 1912.
Yosemite
Street
Lakewood was platted in 1889 by one-time
owner of the Rocky Mountain News, William
Loveland. Lakewood started to grow after the Denver,
Lakewood & Golden Railroad was established in
1891. Lakewood attracted predominately two
industries; farming and healthcare. One of the
country’s largest poultry operations was headquartered
in Lakewood, Mile High Poultry Farms. Also in
Lakewood is the Jewish Consumptive Relief Society
established in 1904 for the treatment of tuberculosis.
Early businesses in the town of Lakewood sprung up
along its main street, West Colfax Avenue.
Cathedral of Immaculate Conception
Monaco
Parkway
Lakewood
Wadsworth
Boulevard
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Colfax & King
The Hyman family opened the
Lake Steam Baths in 1927. Today, the
Lake Steam Baths is the oldest business
on West Colfax. People go there for
massages and steam baths because of
the health benefits. The baths were first
used by people
who had
consumption,
also known as
tuberculosis.
Old and young
people still
enjoy the steam
baths today.
The West Colfax Community
In the early
1880’s, Jews moved
from Russia to West
Colfax because they
were being harassed
in their homeland.
In this time period,
they spoke Yiddish
at home and work;
one could not survive
without being able to speak and understand this language.
They developed a vibrant community that remains today.
Around this same time, a man bought a square block off
Colfax and helped homeless men. This square block did
not have houses or buildings, only cardboard boxes.
State Capitol
Colfax & Broadway
The Colorado State Capitol stands 5280 above
sea level and was built in the 1890’s. The interior is
made out of rare Colorado rose onyx with large pillars
that support a ceramic style roof at each entrance. One
of the most noticeable things is that the building is made
out of Colorado white granite. The tall entrance doors
are embedded with copper and glass. Between 1898
and 1900 the cutting, polishing, and installing of the
marble took place. In 1908 they installed the 24-karat
gold to plate the dome.
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Civic Center
Colfax & Broadway
With Colfax wrapping around
its north side, Civic Center Park is
surrounded by the Colorado Capitol, the
Denver Public Library, the Denver City &
County Building, the Denver Art Museum,
the Webb Municipal Building and a new
Justice Center. Civic Center is the heart
of the city and one of the nation’s best
examples of the City Beautiful Movement
of the early 20th century.
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Metropolitan State College’s Adventures of the American Mind
Denver Public Schools • Adams 12 School District
Aurora History Museum • Molly Brown House Museum
Edgellworks
Historic photos courtesy of The Western History Department, Denver Public Library