Special Libraries Association:About Denver
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History
The Denver area is believed to have been inhabited by Native Americans as early as 15,000 years ago. Since the 1500s, it has been home to Apaches, Comanches, Kiowas, Utes, and finally Arapahos and Cheyennes, who claimed this area when French and American fur trappers arrived in the early 1800s.
When gold was discovered at the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River in the summer of 1858, prospectors from around the world rushed to the area. Several towns were founded that year, but the one that survived was “Denver City,” which was established by General William Larimer in 1858. The Colorado Territory was created in 1861, and Colorado became a state in 1876. Denver City was a wild western town, full of gamblers, saloons and colorful characters such as Soapy Smith, Mattie Silks and the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown. The town survived through gold rushes, silver booms, crashes and depressions to become a financial and cultural hub of the west by the 1890's.
Pioneers from the East Coast and Midwest quickly settled in Denver and had a civilizing influence on the frontier town. The legacy of these early settlers is still part daily life in Denver. The first local newspaper, the Rocky Mountain News, was started by William Newton Byers in 1859. In 1868, a young German by the name of Adolph Kuhrs moved to town, changed his name to Coors, and started a brewery. You may be interested to learn that John Cotton Dana began his library career in Denver as the first librarian for the Denver Public Library in 1889.
If you have a day, two days, etc
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Top 10 things to see and do in Downtown Denver
1. Tattered Cover Bookstore: LoDo location.
2. Denver Art Museum: The original building, designed by Italian architect Gio Ponti, is home to one of the finest collections of American Indian art anywhere, plus European, American, Asian and other collections. The Fredrick C. Hamilton wing, designed by Daniel Libeskind, which opened in October 2006, holds the modern/contemporary, African, Oceanic and Western American art collections.
3. The main branch of the Denver Public Library: Designed by Michael Graves. Visit the 5th floor to explore The Western History and Genealogy departments.
4. Brown Palace Hotel: The hotel was built in 1892 and continues to be a beautiful example of 19th century elegance. You can eat lunch in the Ship’s Tavern or have afternoon tea (reservations recommended) in the nine story atrium lobby. Check out the many varieties of marble in the lobby, and be sure to have a drink of water - the Brown continues to draw all of its water from an artesian well many hundreds of feet below the hotel.
5. LoDo (Lower Downtown): You will find plenty of shopping at Larimer Square, Writers Square and the Tabor Center, all on Larimer Street. The downtown branch of the Tattered Cover book store is located on Wynkoop. The Museum of Contemporary Art at 15th and Delgany should be open by June 2007. Coors Field is a short walk down Blake Street
6. Golden Triangle Museum District: Within walking distance of the convention center this unique neighborhood is Denver’s center for art & culture. The area includes the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Public Library, the U.S. Mint, Colorado History Museum, Molly Brown House, Byers-Evans House, Firefighters Museum, the Kirkland Museum, the Mizel Museum, the Museo de las Americas, the Acoma Center & Curious Theatre Company & over 50 galleries, artist’s studios, fine restaurants & specialty stores. Free First Friday Night Art Tours 5-9 every month with a free shuttle to openings.
7. Compare Brewpubs: Five great brewpubs in the downtown area including: Wynkoop Brewery (The largest brew pub in the US), the Flying Dog Brewery, Breckenridge Brewery, The Chop House and Rock Bottom Brewery.
8. The Colorado Rockies are scheduled to play at Coors Field on June 1st, 2nd and 3rd (Cincinnati) and June 5th, 6th, and 7th (Houston).
9. Denver Mint: Tours cover both coin manufacturing and the history of the Mint. Learn about the craftsmanship required at all stages of the minting process, from the original designs and sculptures to the actual striking of the coins. Tours are free, but you must make a reservation in advance.
10. The Colorado History Museum: Colorado's history includes the story of Native Americans, buffalo hunters, gold prospectors, gunfighters, wagon trains, hard rock mining, railroads, explorers, Spanish conquistadors and more.
If you are in town a few days before the Conference : Capital Hill People's Fair June 2-3, 2007 : This free festival, held downtown in Civic Center Park, is one of the best street fairs in the country. Free entertainment, booths full of unique arts and crafts, delicious food and tons of people watching.
Walking Tour of Downtown Denver in One Day
Actually, you can walk by the following in less than one day, but you’ll have to pick the places you want to tour, we really don’t think you could tour them all in one day!
1. Start at the State Capitol building.
You will be standing one mile high on the 13th step.
The building, modeled on the U.S. Capitol building, is constructed of Colorado Granite, the dome is gilded with Colorado gold and the interior is decorated with Colorado Marble and rare and priceless Colorado Rose Onyx. Tours are available Monday through Friday from 9:15 to 2:30. The 45 minute tours include information on Colorado history, the Capitol building, the lawmaking process, the gold dome, and more. All historic tours begin at the tour desk located on the east side of the north (Colfax Avenue) entrance on the first floor. The best time to visit is in the morning before the larger tour groups arrive.
2. Molly Brown House.
(From the Capitol building, walk east on 14th to Pennsylvania.) The home of the “unsinkable” Molly Brown, Titanic heroine, is restored to its original Victorian splendor. Tours are led by costumed guides.
3. The Colorado History Museum.
(From the Molly Brown house, walk four blocks west on 13th Avenue.) Get a quick dose of Colorado history without cracking a book.
4. The main branch of the Denver Public Library
(Across Broadway from the History Museum). We love our new library. The new addition, designed by Michael Graves and completed in 1995, complements the 1956 building. Visit the 5th floor to explore The Western History and Genealogy departments.
5. Denver Art Museum
(Next door to the library)
The original building, designed by Italian architect Gio Ponti, is home to one of the finest collections of American Indian art anywhere, plus European, American, Asian and other collections. The Fredrick C. Hamilton, designed by Daniel Libeskind, addition which opened in October 2006, holds the modern/ contemporary, African, Oceanic and Western American art collections.
6. Byers-Evans House
(One block south of the Art Museum) This Italianate house, built in 1883 has been restored to the 1912-1924 period. This Denver landmark reflects the character of two early and important Colorado pioneer families.
7. U.S. Mint
(Two blocks north and one block west of the Byers –Evans House) Only two U.S. mints are open for tours – don’t miss your chance. Reservations are required.
8. 16th Street Pedestrian Mall.
(Three blocks north east of the Mint.) Lots of people watching on the mall, which stretches across the downtown area. Free wi-fi access now available. The free shuttle is the easiest way to get across town.
9. LoDo (Lower Downtown)
Take the free 16th street mall shuttle west. You will find plenty of shopping at Larimer Square, Writers Square and the Tabor Center, all on Larimer Street. The downtown branch of the Tattered Cover book store is located on Wynkoop. Coors Field is a short walk down Blake Street.
10. Brown Palace Hotel.
Ride the 16th street mall shuttle east across town to Tremont. Walk two blocks north to the Brown. The hotel was built in 1892 and continues to be a beautiful example of 19th century elegance. You can eat lunch in the Ship Tavern or have afternoon tea (reservations recommended) in the nine story atrium lobby.
If you have more than one day
Get out of Downtown ! For ideas of places to go, check out the Side Trips page.
Neighborhoods
Reading Lists
Members of The Rocky Mountain Chapter of SLA contributed suggestions for a reading list about the region. Our 200 members live and work in four states – Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota. You will find a little history, a couple of hiking guides, some great fiction and more. This is not a comprehensive list of literature about the area - just some suggestions from our members. We hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about our part of the United States. Our thanks to Ellen Naylor for compiling and editing this list.
http://lib.colostate.edu/publicwiki/images/e/eb/Colorado%26FrontRangebooks.pdf.
The Colorado State Library recently collected a list of favorite children's books from the Colorado State Legislature for Booklovers month. A favorite of several legislators is "Little Britches" by Ralph Moody. He and his family move to Littleton COlorado (south east of Denver) early in the 20th Century. His father died, and Ralph turned out being responsible for the family from the age of 12. One of his many jobs was as a cowboy. He also had adventures in the Morrison area. His mother, too, was a model and inspiration of courage, love and creativity. A truly wonderful, readable story for adults, for a family read, for YAs. You can see the list and download it in two versions at
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/slpubs.htm Scroll down to "Favorite" to download the list. [Bonnie F. McCune, Library Community Programs Consultant, Colorado State Library]
Denver Through the Eyes of a Newcomer
A Newcomer’s Adventures in Denver
I arrived in Denver on 17 July 2006, having lately resided in Washington DC. Just so you know the frame of reference from which I speak, I am an Easterner born and bred. After graduating from college, I lived for a few years in Pittsburgh. That was the furthest west I had ever been and remained the westernmost place I ever lived until recently. My daughter and her family live in Denver. I had visited Denver a number of times with favorable impressions and had been much encouraged by my family to make the move. Nevertheless, there still remained the question, what it would be like to actually live here in the Western United States? Would I fit in? Would Denver fit me? Well, guys and gals, I want to tell you that this is the best move I have ever made.
Over the years, I have developed the Supermarket Benchmark as an indicator of how easy it is to get settled in a new place: on average, it takes three months to figure out which aisle the cereal is in (i.e., get to know your way around) and about a year before you meet someone you know in the checkout line (i.e., begin to feel a part of the community). Denver scores well above average on the first benchmark and excels on the second.
Getting around
Greater Denver is an agglomeration of communities that includes Aurora, Centennial, Englewood, Glendale, Lakewood and others. The pattern and names of streets, however, remain consistent throughout most of this metropolitan area – at least as far as I have explored to date. Once you have become familiar with this pattern, it is relatively easy to navigate your way around. In the main, north/south streets are named alphabetically (Acoma, Bannock, Cherokee, Delaware, etc) and east/west streets are numbered (1st Avenue to 56th Avenue or beyond). Of course, there are always exceptions. It took awhile before I figured out that some east/west streets are named rather than numbered (Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi and so forth, or Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale), but generally the layout of this city should be a piece of cake for librarians. Downtown Denver is the big exception. First of all, it is all a kilter: the streets run diagonally rather than due north. Second, the alphabetical guideline does not apply here. Third, the numbered streets (14th Street) bear no relation to the numbered avenues (14th Avenue). If you are staying near the Convention Center, a map of the city center will be a big help.
Community
Denver is a city that is open to newcomers, perhaps because so many of the people who live here were once newcomers themselves. My experience has been that Denverites (and especially the Rocky Mountain Chapter of SLA) are a very friendly bunch. I have found a very warm welcome here and hope that you will, too.
Denverites on the whole are also very enthusiastic about their city. The climate encourages an active life and the city has been laid out with lots of green spaces – Cheesman Park, City Park, Congress Park, Wash (Washington) Park, to name but a few.
There is a lively cultural life, too. There’s the art museum complex and the new Performing Arts Center for opera, symphony, ballet and theater. Alternative venues like the Mercury Café ([1]) for music, dance, poetry and other entertainments and Swallow Hill ([2]) for folk, roots and acoustic music, offer some great performances. So far the most memorable performances I have been to here in Denver have been gypsy music by the Carpathian Quartet at the Mercury Café, the Swallow Hill summer outdoor music evenings at Four Mile Historic Park, and the musical The Robber Bridegroom at Metropolitan State College.
Another cool and eclectic place is the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art ([3]), a short taxi ride from the Convention Center. A visit there will refresh you if you need a break from convention attendance.
Preparing to write this article, I checked a couple of top US city lists to see where Denver ranks. Mind you, this is by no means exhaustive research. I discovered that Denver ranks third in the list of America’s Most Livable Cities ([4]) but did not make it into the top 100 in Money Magazine’s Best Places to Live ([5]), although neighboring towns Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Longmont and Westminster did. In my personal experience, I would say that Denver definitely rates as one of the most livable cities; in fact, if asked to describe Denver in one word, I would say, “Easy.” It is easy to get around, easy to get to know people, easy as opposed to rushed or stressed, easy to enjoy life here. And despite the fact that Denver did not make it into Money Magazine’s Top 100 list, it compared quite favorably to the list’s top ten on a number of measures. In particular, it outshone the others in the number of libraries within 15 miles. Denver has 98, the Best Places average is 43, and the closest city in the top ten is Eden Prairie, MN, with 61. Now you know a city like that can’t be all bad.
Enjoy your visit!
Susan Montgomery
