La Alma Lincoln Park A STORY OF TWO ERAS LINKED BY ONE NEIGHBORHOOD 1
Early History of La Alma Lincoln Park 2
1859 ● Gold in them hills ● Grazing land for buffalo Seasonal Native ● American In 1861, Camp Weld was established in the area encampments now known as Lincoln Park. Image courtesy Stephen H. Hart Library & Research Center, History Colorado. Military base ● 3 A view of the Confluence from 1859. Gold had been discovered in the mountains and panhandlers rushed to Colorado. In the 2 square miles leading to the confluence of the S Platte River and Cherry Creek, the lower 1.3 square miles (which would become La Alma-Lincoln Park) served, at different times, as grazing land for buffalo, seasonal encampments of Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes, a watering hole for pioneers traveling west, and for a short time a civil war military base.
a.c.hunt ● Entrepreneur who staked a claim on land that was to become Lincoln Park Brought Denver ● and Rio Grande Railway through Lincoln Park 4 th territorial ● governor ● Lived in the neighborhood 4 Neighborhood started as a claim staked by A. C. Hunt. As an entrepreneur, Alexander Cameron Hunt had helped form the Auraria Town Company in 1858 (and then united it with its rival mining settlement across the creek, thereby incorporating Denver). He was later instrumental in building out Denver’s water infrastructure and bringing the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad through the neighborhood and to the city. He would go on to become Colorado’s 4th territorial governor (1867-1869), and he built his home in the neighborhood.
1 2 1870s 3 4 ● 7 structures from 1870’s still in neighborhood 5 6 ● Neighborhood has 7 one of the city’s highest concentrations of homes from the Source: Denver County Assessors Office 2010 1880s 5 It turned out that the areas around the creek and river were reliably good at flooding. Cherry Creek floods would destroy buildings in this area in 1864, 1875, and 1878, 1897, and 1912 for starters. Many of the neighborhood homes were washed away. But we retain 7 structures that still stand from the 1870s, and the neighborhood has one of the city’s highest concentrations of homes from the 1880s (along with Five Points, Cole, and Whittier). By the 1890s, the focus of development had moved to Baker and the Highlands.
1870s ● Transcontinental Railway connected East and West through Cheyenne ● Denver connected to Cheyenne and Kansas City ● Opened up the West to families 6 1863 - 1869 Transcontinental railway was constructed to connect the eastern railway system, ending in Omaha, to San Francisco. The rail company chose Cheyenne over Denver as its major railroad center. So, the race was on to become a secondary hub by connecting to Cheyenne. In 1870, the Denver Pacific Railway and Telegraph Company railroad line ((here in the neighborhood) beat out Golden to make that connection, and it also connected the Transcontinental Line to Kansas City through Denver. This sped up migration west, quickly transforming the city from one of mostly single, transient men to an area of commerce and families.
&1890s 1880s Lincoln Park was a ● landing place for many working class immigrants. ● The West promised railroad jobs. Union Pacific ● Railway was the largest employer in La Alma Lincoln Park neighborhood. 7 The 1880s saw a building boom in Denver. And the completion of the railroad facilitated commerce and movement of immigrants. With its proximity to the railway and the industry it supported, Lincoln Park became a natural landing place for generations of working class immigrants, refugees, and families seeking a place in which they could have a stake and upon which they could build an identity. In the 19th century, many Irish arrived in America impoverished and unskilled, and discrimination was common. When many Eastern Seaboard businesses still hung signs reading “No Irish Need Apply”, many Irish people came West with the promise of guaranteed railroad jobs and found greater social mobility. Irish saloons, churches, and social clubs thrived. Denver even had the only Irish-oriented newspaper: Rocky Mountain Celt. In 1890 the Irish-born population in America reached its peak at nearly 1.9 million. John and Mary Donovan separately found their ways to USA from Ireland at age 17, in the late 1860s. They married in 1887 and had their only child--a daughter, Anna--a few years later and made their way to Denver.
1890’s Union Pacific ● Railway largest employer in neighborhood Burnham Yards city ● in itself ● The Buckhorn Exchange was across the street from the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad yard. ● Railmen could cash paychecks at the Exchange, and then stay to drink it down 8 Lincoln Park’s largest employer was the Union Pacific Railway Company. And, Burnham Yards, was like a city unto itself. All the trades were represented, including foundry [workers], upholsterers, carpenters, machinists, car men, firemen, engineers, boilermakers... It had its own powerhouse. They had the ability to build a car [or locomotive] from the ground up. A short block away, the Buckhorn Exchange had recently opened its door and began attracting rowdy crowds cattlemen, miners, railroad builders, silver barons, Indian chiefs, roustabouts, and gamblers. Railmen could cash their paychecks at the Buckhorn Exchange, and then stay to drink it down. In 1894, John, with the equivalent of an 8th grade education, began working as a laborer at Union Pacific Railway Company, and they settled into a house at 1257 10th Ave, down the block from the rowdy Buckhorn (and where the Catholic Charities daycare in Mariposa now stands).
An Immigrant Family’s Story ● Early 1890’s, the Donovans arrive in Lincoln Park John Donovan a laborer ● at Union Pacific ● Made foreman within a year Settled in north part of ● the neighborhood Part of finding their ● place was to purchase a 5-bedroom, Terrace-style house near Lipan & W 13th Ave 9 Within a year at Union Pacific, John was made foreman. A residential building boom was filling the northern end of neighborhood with brick, single-family homes. The Donovans purchased a 5-bedroom, Terrace style house near Lipan & W 13th Ave. As the tallest house on the highest lot on the block, the Donovans would have had an unobstructed view out the back windows of the Capitol building as it was being constructed.
Architectural Styles in La Alma Lincoln Park (late 1890s – early 1900s) 10
The Donovans’ Home: Late 1890s Terrace style house ● Bracketed cornice ● Tall and narrow ● double hung, one over one windows Typically 2 stories ● ● Low pitched roof ● This homes still stands today on Lipan at 13 th street 11
VERNACULAR COTTAGE 1890s 1900s TEMPLE FRONT ● Early Vernacular Cottage ● Frame Vernacular/Temple Front ● Queen Anne Two to three stories. Asymmetrical shape. Decorative trim Wrap around porch with ornamental spindles and PAINTED QUEEN ANNE ONE STORY TERRACE brackets Vibrant colors ● Terrace Form Flat Roof Likely a corbelled parapet behind the stucco City purchased Hunt’s claim for $40k in 1885 and the building boom began. More than 93% of the blocks were developed one-half or more by 1900. In the same time frame we have the beginning or grander projects like Union Station in 1881 and the Brown Palace in 1892.
1890’s Here are examples ● of Italianate style in the neighborhood 13
1900s 1890s Gabled Terrace ● Bracketed cornice ● Tall and narrow windows ● Window hood molding Wide roof eave ● 14
1900s 1890s Urban elements ● Front lawn setbacks ● Front porches TEMPLE TERRACE VICTORIAN COTTAGE FRONT ● Low scale ● High density ● Visual diversity ● Large front lawn gardens Diversity of house ● styles 15 Single-family detached brick housing was the primary residential style in Denver in the 1880s and is still evident today. In fact, many hundreds of the area’s original structures remain on the narrow lots in La Alma Lincoln Park and portray the stories of successive groups of working class people who have lived here since the 19th Century.
1900s 1890s Urban elements ● Front lawn setbacks ● Front porches ● Low scale SHOTGUN TERRACE BUNGALOW TERRACE ● High density ● Visual diversity ● Large front lawn gardens Diversity of house ● styles 16 Development in this area began shortly after the railroad’s arrival in Denver and with the establishment of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in 1870, along the western edge of the neighborhood. A significant portion of the houses retain the distinctive modest size and scale with structures displaying popular 19th Century architectural styles including Second Empire, Queen Anne, and Italianate building form. Of the more than 200 structures in this study area, 90% are residences built in the 19th Century .
Evolution of The Neighborhood (the early 1900s-1950s) 17
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