Hotels in Downtown Denver
Numerous tourists may want to see the culture, history, tourist attractions, society, entertainment and sports of the downtown area of Denver. Some may want to get a hotel that has good views and good tourist attractions near it. Some may want hotel that is large or small. Some may want a hotel that has a good reputation. Some may want a hotel that has a decent range of prices. Some may want a hotel that is luxury or cheap.
Denver is the capital and the most populous city of Colorado, in the USA. Denver is a consolidated city-county located in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Southern Rocky Mountains. The Denver downtown district is located immediately east of the confluence of Cherry Creek with the South Platte River, approximately 15 miles east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Denver is nicknamed the Mile-High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile, or 5,280 feet above sea level. The 105th meridian west of Greenwich passes through Denver Union Station, making it the reference point for the Mountain Time Zone.
Denver City was founded in November 1858 as a mining town during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush in western Kansas Territory. That summer, a group of gold prospectors from Lawrence, Kansas, arrived and established Montana City on the banks of the South Platte River. This was the first settlement in what was later to become the city of Denver. The site faded quickly, however, and was abandoned in favor of Auraria (named after the gold-mining town of Auraria, Georgia) and St. Charles City by the summer of 1859. The Montana City site is now Grant-Frontier Park and includes mining equipment and a log cabin replica.
On November 22, 1858, General William Larimer, a land speculator from eastern Kansas, placed cottonwood logs to stake a claim on the hill overlooking the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, across the creek from the existing mining settlement of Auraria. Larimer named the town site Denver City to curry favor with Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver. Larimer hoped that the town's name would help make it the county seat of Arapaho County, but ironically Governor Denver had already resigned from office. The location was accessible to existing trails and was across the South Platte River from the site of seasonal encampments of the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The site of these first towns is now the site of Confluence Park in downtown Denver. Larimer, along with associates in the St. Charles City Land Company, sold parcels in the town to merchants and miners, with the intention of creating a major city that would cater to new emigrants. Denver City was a frontier town, with an economy based on servicing local miners with gambling, saloons, livestock and goods trading. In the early years, land parcels were often traded for grubstakes or gambled away by miners in Auraria.
The Colorado Territory was created on February 28, 1861, Arapahoe County was formed on November 1, 1861, and Denver City was incorporated on November 7, 1861. Denver City served as the Arapahoe County Seat from 1861 until consolidation in 1902. In 1865, Denver City became the Territorial Capital. With its new found importance, Denver City shortened its name to just Denver. On August 1, 1876, Denver became the State Capital when Colorado was admitted to the Union.
Between 1880-1895 the city experienced a huge rise in city corruption, as crime bosses, such as Soapy Smith, worked side-by-side with elected officials and the police to control the elections, gambling, and the bunko gangs. In 1887, the precursor to the international charity United Way was formed in Denver by local religious leaders who raised funds and coordinated various charities to help Denver's poor. By 1890, Denver had grown to be the second largest city west of Omaha, but by 1900 it had dropped to third place behind San Francisco and Los Angeles.
LoDo is the lower downtown area of Denver, Colorado, the oldest and original settlement of the city of Denver. It is a mixed-use historic district, known for its nightlife, and serves as a great example of success in urban reinvestment and revitalization.
There
are two boundaries for Lower Downtown Denver. The first is the legal, zoning boundary
that encompasses the Lower Downtown Historic District, and the historic district
forms the heart of the mixed-use neighborhood. This area is roughly bordered by:
LoDo
(the Union Station neighborhood as defined by the US Census) highlighted on this
map of Denver neighborhoods.
Cherry Creek/Speer Boulevard, 20th Street, Larimer Street, Wewatta Street
The second boundary is the social and economic boundary. This area is not delineated on a map, but rather represents LoDo's sphere of influence, and the relationships between the heart of LoDo and its immediately adjacent areas. This area includes the Auraria Campus, Riverfront Park, the Central Platte Valley, Prospect, Upper Larimer/River North, and the Ballpark neighborhoods. It is more difficult to draw a dividing line between Lower Downtown and the Central Business District, but several commercial real estate brokerages use Curtis Street as the boundary of the LoDo Market Segment.
LoDo is located just northwest of Downtown Denver near the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River. It is in north central Denver.
Before European exploration of the area, Native Americans, particularly the Arapahoe tribe, had encampments along the South Platte River near or in what is now LoDo. In 1858, after gold was discovered in the river, General William Larimer founded Denver by putting down cottonwood logs in the center of a square mile plot that would basically be the current LoDo neighborhood. Therefore, LoDo is both the original city of Denver, as well as its oldest neighborhood. Then like now, LoDo was a bustling and sometimes wild area known for its saloons, and brothels. During the Sand Creek Massacre, it was LoDo where the heads of the slaughtered Arapahoe tribe were paraded in victory.
As Denver grew, city leaders realized a railroad was needed to keep Denver a strong city, especially when the transcontinental railroad bypassed Denver for Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 1870, after much cajoling from town leaders, residents passed bonds that brought a 106 mile rail spur from Cheyenne. This and later train lines ended up in the Central Platte Valley, adjacent to LoDo. Union Station became the place most people traveled into the city and LoDo would be the first part of the city they would see.
LoDo like the rest of Denver went through its ups and downs. What was once a thriving business area was, by the mid twentieth century, a skid row. This was especially true after highways and airports took away from the importance of Union Station and the train transportation that built the city. Fortunately, the original urban renewal plans were not realized, which would have leveled much of the area to create a multi-lane highway.
The neighborhoods of the City and County of Denver, Colorado, United States:
Alamo Placita, Athmar Park, Auraria, Baker, Barnum, Barnum West, Bear Valley, Belcaro, Berkeley, Capitol Hill, Central Business District, Chaffee Park, Cheesman Park, Cherry Creek, City Park, City Park West, Civic Center, Clayton, Cole, College View, Congress Park, Cory-Merrill, Country Club, Denver International Airport, East Colfax, Elyria-Swansea, Five Points, Fort Logan, Gateway, Globeville, Golden Triangle, Goldsmith, Green Valley Ranch, Hale, Hampden, Hampden South, Harvey Park, Harvey Park South, Highland, Highlands, Hilltop, Indian Creek, Jefferson Park, Kennedy, Lincoln Park, LoDo, Lowry, Mar Lee, Marston, Mayfair, Montbello, Montclair, North Capitol Hill, North Park Hill, Northeast Park Hill, Overland, Park Hill, Platt Park, Regis, Rosedale, Ruby Hill, Skyland, Sloan Lake, South Park Hill, South Platte, Southmoor Park, Speer, Stapleton, Sun Valley, Sunnyside, Union Station, University, University Hills, University Park, Valverde, Villa Park, Virginia Village, Washington Park, Washington Park West, Washington-Virginia Vale, Wellshire, West Colfax, West Highlands, Westwood, Whittier, Windsor
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