Denver: Historic South Park Hill Neighborhood

[CPVLIVE]

First platted in 1887, the original Park Hill development was on 32 acres east of City Park. This development was bordered by present day Montview Boulevard on the south, Colorado Boulevard on the west, East 26th Avenue on the north, and Dahlia Street on the east, placing it in what is now the western portion of South Park Hill. Today the greater Park Hill neighborhood consists of three administrative neighborhoods, South Park Hill, North Park Hill, and Northeast Park Hill. I tried to focus on South Park Hill, but may have included some from as far north as 26th Ave do to the fact I took them last year and I traveled all through those neighborhoods and editing became pretty messy. Park Hill reflects the City Beautiful movement’s ideals of landscaping and art and specifically the promotion of parks and parkways. Utilizing the 1907 George Kessler plan, Denver built most of its parkway network between 1909 and 1913 and eventually 16 of these parkways were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Several parkways are featured here including 17th Avenue, Montview, Forest, 23rd Avenue, and Monaco and together make up arguably the most prominent feature of South Park Hill.


A map for orientation –






























St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1908 –Spanish Colonial/Spanish Baroque with Churriqueresque motifs. Architect Harry J. Manning. A carved-stone entry leads to a rustic, wood-beamed church with an arcade and plaza.










17th Avenue Parkway facing east. You can see the parkway does in fact function much like a park but without any programmed space. I’m guessing it’s in the range of about forty or so yards across.










For the majority of these shots of 17th I’m shooting while walking down the parkway.





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Westbound 17th with the parkway on the right and eastbound on the far side.




















17th Avenue Parkway is about a mile and a half long running between Colorado Blvd. and Monaco Parkway.

































































Fixer-upper right on the parkway – step right up








About midway between Colorado and Monaco is this intersection with Forest Parkway – I’m heading north up Forest to Montview Parkway.





The Parkway in the early 1900s – designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr. This is near the intersection with Forest Parkway pictured above
Denver Public Library - Western History Collection







Heading north now – that’s Forest parkway on the left.




















Walking down Forest Parkway.










We’re at Montview Parkway now – Park Hill United Methodist Church – 1910. Architect William N. Bowman.












Park Hill Elementary – 1901. Architect, Jules Jacques Benedict.
























Still working my way down Montview Parkway and side streets.






















Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church – 1910. Architect William N Bowman. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr made several appearances here beginning in 1964.













Park Hill Masonic Lodge – 1924












Neighborhood library








Italian Renaissance - 1910



























Park Hill Branch Library – Spanish Renaissance -1920. Architect Burnham Hoyt. Over the fireplace of this branch, Robert Garrison sculpted the stone plaque honoring Coleridge’s “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”.
























Apartments near the library.








Heading up to 23rd Ave Parkway and surrounding area.






































This is 23rd Avenue – The Cherry Tomato
























A lot of Small House Bureau Homes in Park Hill


























Smiley Junior High – 1928 – Tudor. Architect, George H. Williamson
















I’m heading south towards Colfax – the southern boundary of South Park Hill




















Art Deco inspired design by Charles Jaka – 1931






































On East Colfax now – the southern end of the line for South Park Hill.














Northbound now on Monaco Parkway which is several miles long and runs north/south on the eastern edge of the neighborhood






The parkway is on the left with cars heading south-bound on Monaco to the extreme left of the photo.
























View of the parkway separating north and south Monaco.














Near the intersection with 17th Ave. Parkway









Johnson and Wales University. Originally Colorado Women’s College – 1909.






























Well, that’s been a not so quick look at Denver’s South Park Hill – Thanks for viewing! Next up Wash Park, or City Park, or Congress Park, or maybe Baker – Just not CheCre as there’s too much construction at the moment.

More Threads

Denver – Historic Cheesman Park Neighborhood

Denver - Odds and Ends

San Francisco

Denver Public Schools - Historic Architecture

Denver - Historic Five Points Neighborhood Part I

Mt. Evans Scenic Byway

Denver - Capitol Hill Neighborhood Part I

[navyweaxguy]

I grew up in City Park West and my grandparents lived in Aurora. We would drive through or take the bus through Park Hill every weekend. Beautiful pictures. Brought back lots of great memories.

[Scottk]

Wow! Great photo set of a neighborhood I rarely visit. So green and pleasant!

[dc_denizen]

Denver: home of the highest quality residential vernacular in the USA. great pics, thanks cpvlive!

[mSeattle]

Lotta moo-la parked in that parkway.

[DenverInfill]

Awesome as always, CPV!! Thank you!

[marcus]

Wow! Really high quality and well-maintained neighborhood you got there. Great photos!

[Keith-in-Jax]

Terrific set, thanks!!

[Danny]

What a lovely area and houses!

South Park Hill Neighbourhood is a gem in the Mile-High City. Beautiful tour and amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing the beauty of South Park Hill at SSP.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.

[gothamite]

thanks! I never thought of Denver as a place with such richly historic looking architecture.

[PHX31]

Is it just you and your photos, or is every house in Denver immaculately restored or maintained, with perfect landscaping? Denver certainly has some of the greatest housing stock in the country.

How much would you say is the average home price for these houses you posted?

[DenverInfill]

Originally Posted by PHX31

Is it just you and your photos, or is every house in Denver immaculately restored or maintained, with perfect landscaping? Denver certainly has some of the greatest housing stock in the country.

How much would you say is the average home price for these houses you posted?

While I'm sure CPVLIVE was taking pictures of the more architecturally-attractive homes, the areas of the Park Hill neighborhood that he photographed are so desirable that essentially every home is well maintained with nice landscaping. There's just such high demand for Denver's ~40 square miles of pre-War historic neighborhoods that finding homes in disrepair in these areas is relatively difficult.

For the homes along the parkways, the prices are around $800k - $1.2m. For those off the parkway, more in the $500k - $700k range. Smaller homes near Colfax might go as low as $400k.

[i_am_hydrogen]

Excellent series on a great-looking neighborhood.

[pregersthehobo]

Thanks CP! Excellent work as always.

Fun fact: Jack Kerouac lived in one of the apartments above Spinelli's Market during one of his many stints in Denver.

My vote for your next thread is either Baker or Congress Park. Baker has a more interesting assortment of housing and border architecture along Broadway and Santa Fe. But Congress has 7th Avenue Parkway...

[wong21fr]

What a great tour, CPV, thanks. For a few years I had to commute from Uptown out to Fitzsimmons and would always take 17th. It's great to be able to check out the neighborhood in a slower fashion.

[Wizened Variations]

Nice job CPV. We in Denver are fortunate that much of the quality housing built before the 1930s still exists and never has become run down.

In too many US cities, too many middle and upper middle class single family residences built early in the 20th and late in the 19th have been lost.

[CPVLIVE]

Thanks everybody - I appreciate your taking a look.

Originally Posted by DenverInfill

While I'm sure CPVLIVE was taking pictures of the more architecturally-attractive homes, the areas of the Park Hill neighborhood that he photographed are so desirable that essentially every home is well maintained with nice landscaping. There's just such high demand for Denver's ~40 square miles of pre-War historic neighborhoods that finding homes in disrepair in these areas is relatively difficult.

For the homes along the parkways, the prices are around $800k - $1.2m. For those off the parkway, more in the $500k - $700k range. Smaller homes near Colfax might go as low as $400k.

Nailed it Ken.

[OhioGuy]

Don't think I saw this post the first time around. Fantastic photos of what appears to be a really great neighborhood!

[bobdreamz]

Denver looks dreamy!

[IconRPCV]

Can I ask you what an average home in this neighborhood costs? I am in love!!