Congress Park

The Congress Park neighborhood is bounded on the west by York Street, on the north by Colfax Avenue, on the east by Colorado Boulevard, and the south by Sixth Avenue. The area began as Capitol Heights, which was first platted during the late 1880s, as Denver’s population rose. Platting occurred with the purchase of a complete piece of land. The new owner surveyed the property and mapped it, dividing the parcel into streets and creating a subdivision. The development of Capitol Heights occurred alongside the development of tramway lines along East Colfax, East 12th Avenue, and East Sixth Avenue.

 

In addition to fine single-family homes for the wealthy, many duplexes and apartment buildings were built in the neighborhood during the early twentieth century. The extreme northwest corner of Congress Park sits on land that was part of the Rohlfing Subdivision. This 1899 addition covered the area from Colfax on the north, Congress Park itself on the south, and from Clayton to Josephine Streets. Other Capitol Heights subdivisions include Chamberlin’s, Murray Hill, Brewer’s Second, Fisher’s Cheesman Park, St. James Heights (platted by James M. Johnson), and Frank Snell’s Subdivision (now a Historic District). St. James Heights covers the 1100 and 1200 blocks, with Clayton as the easternmost street. Brewer’s Addition is the 1400 blocks of Clayton and Detroit. Chamberlin’s Subdivision is just east of Brewer’s Subdivision. The 1300 blocks of Clayton and Detroit comprise Murray Hill.

 

Moving southeast through the neighborhood, one can see a progression of architectural styles, from the delicate and intricately detailed Queen Anne and Victorian homes at the turn of the century to stately Craftsman Denver Squares, and finally to the working-class bungalows of the twenties. The present-day boundaries of the Congress Park neighborhood are Colfax Avenue and Sixth Avenue from north to south, and York Street and Colorado Boulevard from east to west. The Congress Park neighborhood did not exist in name until real estate agents delineated it as such during the 1970s, making the area more marketable.

 

Source: Denver Public Library

 

Also, check out the Neighborhood Association