Walking Denver

This walk combines three historic districts located about one mile from downtown Denver: the Five Points commercial district, once called the “Harlem of the West” and Denver’s first African American neighborhood; Curtis Park, which is Denver’s oldest residential neighborhood; and the San Rafael Historic District, with its turn-of-the-century homes and grand churches. The entire area has gone through the highest highs to the lowest lows over the years and is still in the process of renewal. This walk includes three institutions devoted to African American history—in this neighborhood and well beyond—as well as historical buildings, churches, and homes, all in the shadow of downtown skyscrapers.

This walk begins with a recommendation to not just begin your tour in front of the

Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library (a branch of the Denver Public Library) at Welton Street and 24th Avenue, but to go inside. The third floor of the library is an exhibit space tracing the history of African Americans to the West and also has replicas of a barber shop—and the story of the barber and his family escaping slavery and coming to Denver—of the Roxy Theater with video and music, and a replica of the mayoral office of Mayor Wellington E. Webb, Denver’s first African American mayor, who served three terms from 1991 to 2003. The Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building is on Walk 2. A “Leadership Gallery” tells the stories of numerous African American leaders from Denver and Colorado. On the second floor are archives and the research library.

The library opened in 2003 as part of the revitalization efforts for this area. It is named for Omar Blair, the first African American to head Denver’s School Board, and Elvin Caldwell, Denver’s first African American city councilman.

Sonny Lawson Park on the west side of the library is where author Jack Kerouac spent an evening watching a baseball game, which he wrote about in his classic, On the Road. Kerouac’s pal Neal Cassady grew up in this neighborhood. It was the first ballpark in Denver to host Negro League games. Sonny Lawson was a local African American businessman.

Turn left on 25th Street to walk west. This portion of the walk takes you through the Curtis Park neighborhood, which was Denver’s first “streetcar suburb” when horse-drawn cable cars brought people from downtown up to 27th and Champa Streets. Houses in this neighborhood date back to the 1870s, with many of them built in the early 1880s. At the corner of 25th and California Streets is the former

First German Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1887, and is now the Agape Christian Church. The house at 2445 California Street on your left was built in 1879, as was the home at 2461.

Detailed history and architectural details of the houses in the area are given in Curtis Park: Denver’s Oldest Neighborhood by William Allen West. West points out that as soon as water was made available to Brown’s Bluff, now called Capitol Hill (see Walk 1), wealthy citizens pulled out of Curtis Park and built new mansions on the hilltop before 1900. The heyday of fancy houses in Curtis Park was short lived, and it became a middle-class area with a mix of immigrants and then a lower-middle-class area with Italianate and Queen Anne–style mansions turned into boardinghouses.

At this juncture you can walk three blocks to Curtis Street and take a right to walk to 30th Street. Or take a right on California Street, walk one block, turn left on 26th Street, then right on Stout Street and walk one block. Turn left on 27th Street, walk one block to Champa Street, and turn right to walk one block to 28th Street. Turn left on 28th, then right on Curtis Street, staying on Curtis Street until you reach 30th Street.

Mestizo-Curtis Park at 3000 Curtis Street is, as you might guess given the age of the houses, the city’s oldest park. Thanks to revitalization efforts and dollars, there is a playground and new garden areas in the park. Take a right and walk east on 30th Street back to California Street.

Turn left on California Street and walk one block to the

Black American West Museum on your left at the corner of 31st and California Streets. The museum is in the one-time home of Dr. Justina Ford, the first African American woman doctor in Colorado. (Dr. Ford’s husband was the Reverend John E. Ford, minister at the Zion Baptist Church from 1899 to 1906.) Dr. Ford came to Denver in 1902 and lived in this house, although it was several blocks away where it was originally built in 1888. The house was saved from demolition and relocated in 1983. The museum has a few exhibits, including one with more details about Dr. Ford, and also displays about Buffalo Soldiers and rodeo cowboys like Deadwood Dick and Bill Pickett.

Note: If you’ve had enough walking for one day, the RTD light-rail station is directly across the street from the museum. You can take the light-rail train back to the library at 24th and Welton Streets or into downtown.

Turn around and walk back to 30th Street, then continue east to Welton Street, turning right at the vintage Tivoli sign painted on the side of the brick building. Through the 1950s, Welton Street was the main commercial strip for Five Points, with three newspapers, nightclubs, movie theatres, hotels, dentists, barbers, hatters, and many other businesses that catered to the African American population. For many reasons since then—desegregation, crime, a slumping economy all among them—Five Points has become a neighborhood without a community as it slowly gentrifies and storefronts sit empty. You’ll hear the ding-ding of the light-rail train as it makes stops along the street.

An annual Juneteenth Festival was revived in the last few years and fills the street one summer weekend with food vendors, music, and special celebrations to honor the end of slavery in the United States.

Just before the neighborhood’s namesake five-point intersection at Washington Street/Welton Street/27th Street is one of the few new businesses on this street:

The Rolling Pin, a cheery little bakeshop where you can’t go wrong on choosing croissants or cakes.

At the corner of Washington and Welton Streets is the

Rossonian Hotel (built in 1912 as the Baxter Hotel, then changed to the Rossonian in 1929). The Rossonian was Denver’s jazz mecca from the 1930s through the 1950s, with big names like Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Billie Holliday, Louis Armstrong, and other greats playing here. Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady were jazz lovers and were known to frequent the Rossonian too. It has been sitting vacant for ages and remains full of potential, but perhaps by the time you are taking this walk it will be a working hotel again.

Walk south on Washington Street with the Rossonian on your right side. As you approach 25th Avenue, look left to see

Denver Firehouse Station No 3, which was built in 1931 and is still a fully functioning firehouse. The city created the only African American fire station to serve the Five Points area in 1893. The fire department was integrated in the 1950s, and Denver’s first African American fire chief was named in 2001.

On your right on the triangular corner of the block is the

Stiles African American Heritage Center, which has many African American artifacts on display and also provides educational workshops, reenactments, and other history lessons.

Continue walking south on Washington Street to 23rd Avenue. At the corner is a one-time Presbyterian church that was built here in 1883.

Turn left on 23rd Avenue to walk to Ogden Street. You will see the

Belltower Residences at San Rafael on the corner. This 1915 building was once home to the New Hope Baptist Church and was recently converted to four very swanky condominiums.

Turn right on Ogden Street and walk to 22nd Avenue. Turn left. On this corner are the

Sanctuary Lofts, once the Scott Methodist Church.

Zion Baptist Church is home to one of the country’s first African American congregations.

Turn right on Emerson Street and walk to 24th Avenue. At 24th Street look right to see the

Zion Baptist Church, built in 1892. According to Michelle Pearson in Historic Sacred Places of Denver, the Zion Baptist congregation is considered one of the oldest African American congregations in the United States, founded in 1865. This church was built for the congregation of the Calvary Baptist Church and bought by the Zion congregation in 1911.

Backstory: Not for Everyone

Denver was a segregated city. The Rossonian was not only famous for its jazz music but also for welcoming African Americans who could not stay in the other hotels downtown. When musicians came to town to play a show, they were told they could stay at the Rossonian for free if they played some music in the lobby—after their other concerts.

Smith Lake in Washington Park (see Walk 20) was unofficially for whites only, writes Nancy Widman in her book Washington Park. The exception was Japanese people, who were officially barred. One day in 1932 a large group of African Americans came to Smith Lake to swim, and a small riot broke out.

And in Denver’s Riverside Cemetery: Where History Lies, author Annette Student tells of how former-slave turned businessman Barney Ford came to Colorado to seek his fortune in the mines, like so many other men.

“Although Blacks were allowed to own land at the time, they were not allowed to file on a mining claim or a homestead,” she writes. Ford filed several claims on mines, only to have them jumped by white men. Ford went on to become a prosperous and highly respected hotel and restaurant owner in Denver.

Turn left when Emerson Street meets 26th Avenue. You will find yourself back at the five-point intersection and the Rossonian once again as you reach Welton Street. On your right is

Rosenberg’s Bagels and Delicatessen, one of the few new businesses in this neighborhood. As historic neighborhoods like the Highlands have exploded with change in recent years, this area has had a slower renewal.

Turn left and walk south on Welton Street. On your right you will pass the former Casino Cabaret, now

Cervantes’ Masterpiece, two concert spaces for bands that are a far cry from the jazz classics of the past. Next up the

Roxy Theatre, a former movie theatre and dance club, is now a live music venue too.

Points of Interest

Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library 2401 Welton St., 720-865-2401, history.denverlibrary.org/blair

Sonny Lawson Park 2300 Welton St.

First German Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church/Agape Christian Church 2501 California St., 303-296-2452, agapechristianchurch.org

Mestizo-Curtis Park 3000 Curtis St.

The Black American West Museum 3091 California St., 720-242-7428, bawmhc.org

The Rolling Pin 2716 Welton St., 720-708-3026, therollingpinbakeshop.com

Rossonian Building 2650 Welton St.

Denver Firehouse Station No 3 2500 Washington St., 720-913-3473, denvergov.org

Stiles African American Heritage Center 2607 Glenarm Pl., 303-294-0597, stilesheritagecenter.org

Belltower Residences 23rd & Ogden Sts.

Sanctuary Lofts 22nd & Emerson St.

Zion Baptist Church 933 E. 24th Ave., 303-863-9413, zionbaptistchurchdenver.org

Rosenberg’s Bagels and Delicatessen 725 E. 26th Ave., 720-440-9880, rosenbergsbagels.com

Cervantes’ Masterpiece 2635 Welton St., 303-297-1772, cervantesmasterpiece.com

Roxy Theatre 2549 Welton St., 720-381-6420, theroxydenver.com