Jefferson Park, Denver

Last updated
Jefferson Park, the park for which the neighborhood is named. Jeffreson Park.JPG
Jefferson Park, the park for which the neighborhood is named.

Jefferson Park is a neighborhood and public park that overlooks Downtown Denver, Colorado from its perch across Interstate 25 (I-25). It is located in the area that is called North Denver. Views east from Jefferson Park take in Elitch Gardens Theme Park, The Children's Museum, Denver's Downtown Aquarium, Pepsi Center, the REI flagship store and other attractions in Downtown's Central Platte Valley. Downtown Denver and the Central Platte Valley are quickly accessed from Jefferson Park, using the 23rd Avenue overpass on I-25 and Water Street. In addition, the Light Rail C-Line is located by Empower Field at Mile High in the southern part of the neighborhood.

Contents

Geography

Jefferson Park sits on a bluff just to the northwest of Denver's downtown core, providing it views [1] of Denver's Central Platte Valley. The boundaries of the neighborhood are:

History

Old Highland

Although previous claims were made to an area called Highland on the northwest side of the South Platte River, [2] [3] the first recognized by the U.S. Government was included in An Act for the Relief of the Citizens of Denver, on May 28, 1864. A portion of the Jefferson Park neighborhood, today bound Speer Boulevard on the north, Interstate 25 on the West, the South Platte River on the East, and a line extending eastward from West 23rd Avenue, was included in the land grant, part of Range 68W, Section 33, in South Township 3. [4]

The Town of Highland

The Town of Highland (no "s") was originally platted by Horatio B. Bearce in 1873 which includes the portion of the Jefferson Park neighborhood bound by W. 26th Avenue, Federal Boulevard, W 23rd Avenue, and old Zuni Street, now replaced by Interstate 25. In 1875, the Town of Highlands was incorporated, and included the original Town of Highland together with surrounding subdivisions. [5] Jefferson Park (the park) is located in Crane's Addition to the Town of Highlands. The Town of Highlands was considered Denver's first suburb. In 1890, when the population grew large enough for the area to be considered the City of Highlands, a city hall was constructed at the Southwest corner of West 26th Avenue and Federal Boulevard, now the site of Denver Fire Station 12. Federal was simply referred to as “The Boulevard”, becoming Federal after annexation by Denver. [5]

During the late-19th century the political rivalry between Denver and Highlands became very heated. The City of Highlands was intended to be an elite suburb, a residential community with the men earning their living in Denver and retiring in the evening to Highlands. Highlanders were a very proud people, proud of their pure air, pure water (artesian aquifer), fine homes, good schools and high morals. Highlands was a blue law town at a time when Denver was known coast to coast for its gambling, prostitution, and racy life. The problem for Highlands was access to Denver, where the jobs were. Highlands, with its gracious and crime free lifestyle kept thumbing its nose at Denver with its railroad yards, tanneries, mills, and a famous red-light district, inciting the ire of Denver Mayor Wolfe Londoner. Londoner simply told the poorly connected citizens of Highland that the price of a viaduct across the rail yards and the Platte River was annexation.

Becoming Jefferson Park

In 1896, the City of Highlands was annexed, and thereafter was known as "North Denver." As the city grew larger and the name "North Denver" started to encompass a larger area the new neighborhood was renamed Jefferson Park, from the 6.7-acre (27,000 m2) park located on West 23rd Avenue and Clay Street in the heart of the neighborhood. The park was part of an undeveloped portion of Crane's Addition to the Town of Highlands before annexation, and became part of the Highland Division of the City of Denver Parks, landscaped in the early 20th century and then named after former President Thomas Jefferson.

Highlands was made up of 35 subdivisions with the street names, directions and lot sizes not conforming to the Denver norm. As a general rule, building was permitted on 25-foot (7.6 m) lots, and some builders would put up a row of small gothic cottages, built very close together, and surrounded by acres of vacant lots. Any block, in Jefferson Park today, may have houses representing the architecture of the 1890s, 1910s, 1920s 1940s, and 1950s. After the building boom that occurred following the end of World War II, there was very little vacant property left in North Denver.

By the 1960s, Denver was experiencing its own white flight, as many American cities were, and the neighborhoods in the inner core of the city started feeling the effects. Properties in Jefferson Park were abandoned for the suburbs, and as the recession of the late 1970s and early 1980s hit Denver violence and crime increased throughout the neighborhood.

Jefferson Park's renaissance

By the 1990s Jefferson Park's location, affordable housing, and neighborhood feel brought it back to the attention of the city and home-buyers that were tired of long commutes and wanted an urban lifestyle. Jefferson Park was made a focus neighborhood by the city of Denver and investment in infrastructure and beautification began. Eventually, Jefferson Park United Neighbors (or JPUN) was formed in 2000, after a controversial large-scale development by Sullivan-Hayes twas proposed.

The residents of Jefferson Park banded together and formed JPUN after the now defunct Jefferson Park Neighborhood Association (JPNA) failed to act. The neighbors formed JPUN, created by-laws, and fought Sullivan-Hayes by talking to their council people and Mayor Wellington Webb.

The proposed development which would have condemned many 19th Century homes and turned the park into an amphitheater was defeated. It was at this point that the residents turned their attention to improving the neighborhood. [ citation needed ]

Today

Today, Jefferson Park is marked by a variety of housing styles and architecture from various eras. Single family homes from the late 19th century stand next to apartment complexes built in the 1950s and a current boon of development at the turn of the millennium. Jefferson Park is currently experiencing a renaissance in investment and development due to its proximity to downtown Denver.

In 2010, the neighborhood had 2,522 residents. [6]

The racial breakdown of the neighborhood is 68.7% white, 2.1% African American, 1.5% Asian, 1.9% Native American. Hispanic or Latino of any race is 44.3% of the population. [6] Jefferson Park has one of the higher poverty rates in the city with 30.03% of the population in poverty. The crime rate in Jefferson Park is at 76 incidents per 1,000 people. [7] The average crime rate for Denver neighborhoods is 68 incidents per 1000 people. [7] In 2007, Jefferson Park was one of the top five neighborhoods that saw the greatest decrease in crime, down 29.3%. [8] Between 2009 and 2010, Jefferson Park crimes rates dropped by 2.6%. [9]

The average price per square foot of a residential home in Jefferson Park in May 2017 was $369.49. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denver</span> Capital of Colorado, United States

Denver is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United States and the fifth most populous state capital. It is the principal city of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the first city of the Front Range Urban Corridor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auraria, Denver</span> Early neighborhood in Denver, Colorado

Auraria was a small mining settlement in the Kansas Territory in the United States. Today it survives in its original location as a neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, south of the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alamo Placita, Denver</span>

Alamo Placita is a historic district and unofficial neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, United States. It is named after Alamo Placita Park which is located on the north side of Speer Boulevard between Ogden and Emerson Streets.

The list of neighborhoods of Kansas City, Missouri has nearly 240 neighborhoods. The list includes only Kansas City, Missouri and not the entire Kansas City metropolitan area, such as Kansas City, Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherry Creek, Denver</span>

Cherry Creek is a neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, in the United States. It has many newer residences mixed in with some of Denver's older homes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highland, Denver</span>

Highland is a distinct city-center neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, United States, bounded by West 38th Avenue to the north, a Union Pacific Railroad line on the east, the South Platte River to the southeast, Speer Boulevard on the south, and Federal Boulevard on the west. The Highlands is sometimes used to refer to two separate city-center neighborhoods in Denver; Highland and West Highland, although the two neighborhoods are distinct. Highland and West Highland are both in the area that is referred to as the Northside. Highland is located immediately northwest of downtown. Note that the Highland neighborhood association has a slightly different definition with the easternmost boundary stopping at I-25. And the West Highland neighborhood to the immediate west of Highland, with the borders of 38th and 29th Avenues on the north and south and Federal and Sheridan Boulevards on the east and west. To distinguish between its immediately adjacent neighbor, West Highland, Highland is sometimes referred to as East Highland, Lower Highland or LoHi. The two together are casually called "the Highlands," a term which often falsely encompasses other Northwest Denver neighborhoods such as Jefferson Park, Sunnyside and Berkeley. Realtors have particularly pushed the inclusion of the recently gentrified Berkeley, located directly north of West Highland, as part of the Highlands, sometimes going so far as to refer to Berkeley and parts of Sunnyside as the "Upper Highlands". To add further confusion, within the Highlands neighborhoods there are several historic designations of various degrees, including Potter Highlands, Scottish Highlands and Highlands Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neighborhoods of Milwaukee</span>

The neighborhoods of Milwaukee include a number of areas in southeastern Wisconsin within the state's largest city at nearly 600,000 residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street system of Denver</span>

The oldest part of Denver, Colorado, now the neighborhoods of Auraria Campus, LoDo, much of downtown, and Five Points, is laid out on a grid plan that is oriented diagonal to the four cardinal directions. The rest of the city, including the eastern part of downtown, is laid out primarily on a grid oriented to the cardinal directions. In this larger grid, from east to west, there are generally 16 city blocks per mile, except between Zuni Street and Lowell Boulevard in west Denver. From north to south, there are typically eight blocks per mile, although there are many areas with more blocks per mile. Addresses follow a decimal system, with addresses advancing by one hundred at each cross street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Fourth Ward</span> Neighborhoods of Atlanta in Fulton County, Georgia, United States

The Old Fourth Ward, often abbreviated O4W, is an intown neighborhood on the eastside of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The neighborhood is best known as the location of the Martin Luther King Jr. historic site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunnyside, Denver</span> Neighborhood in Denver, Colorado

Sunnyside is a city-center neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, located in the Northside of Denver, west of Interstate 25.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkeley, Denver</span> Neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, US

Berkeley is a city-center neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, located in the area traditionally called the, "Northside", on the west side of Interstate 25 and just south of Interstate 70. The neighborhood is bounded by Federal Boulevard on the east, I-70 on the north, Sheridan Boulevard on the West and 38th avenue on the south. It is bordered by the West Highland neighborhood on the south and is often erroneously grouped together with the Highlands. The neighborhood contains two lakes surrounded by parks, one eponymous and Rocky Mountain Lake Park. Berkeley Park also contains the William Scheitler Recreation Center, run by the City and County of Denver and including both indoor and outdoor public pools. Berkeley has experienced rapid growth and rise in property values in the last 20 years and particularly since the closing of Elitch Gardens Amusement Park in October 1994. Particularly, Tennyson Street has become a commercial and cultural center for Northwest Denver, beginning in the current decade to rival Highland Square in nearby Highland. City Congressman Rick Garcia pushed for the further development of Tennyson Street in the November 2011 election season and succeeded in obtaining the voters' approval for $2.5 million in public works funding. Business owners on Tennyson from 48th Avenue to 38th Avenue currently collaborate in an Art Walk held on the first Friday of every month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athmar Park, Denver</span> Place in Colorado, United States

Athmar Park is a residential neighborhood in southwest Denver, Colorado. It consists mostly of all-brick ranches and bungalow-style homes built in the 1940s and 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Park, Denver</span> Neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, United States of America

Lincoln Park is a neighborhood and public park close to downtown Denver, Colorado and the location of the Art District on Santa Fe. The neighborhood is one of Denver's oldest and is just to the south of the area where Denver was first settled in the 1850s. Many houses date from about 1900. The neighborhood is sometimes called "La Alma/Lincoln Park" or the West Side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Park, Denver</span>

Villa Park is a neighborhood in Denver, Colorado. Its hilly topography provides panoramic views of downtown Denver and of the Rocky Mountains, particularly from Lakewood / Dry Gulch Park, which divides the neighborhood diagonally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Globeville, Denver</span>

Globeville is a neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. Globeville is located in the area traditionally called North Denver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valverde, Denver</span>

Valverde is a neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. It is in the area known as West Denver or the "West Side". According to the Piton Foundation, in 2007, the population of the neighborhood was 4,093, and there were 1,276 housing units. Valverde home values are expected to grow substantially, due to the recent population growth in the Denver metro area. The commute to downtown Denver from the Valverde neighborhood is less than 5 minutes since the completion of 6th avenue, which no longer merges with I-25.

Portland, Maine, is home to many neighborhoods.

The History of Virginia–Highland, the Intown Atlanta neighborhood, dates back to 1812, when William Zachary bought and built a farm on 202.5 acres (0.819 km2) of land there. At some point between 1888 and 1890 the Nine-Mile Circle streetcar arrived,, making a loop of what are now Ponce de Leon Avenue, North Highland Avenue, Virginia Avenue, and Monroe Drive. Atlantans at first used the line to visit what was then countryside, including Ponce de Leon Springs, but the line also enabled later development in the area. Residential development began as early as 1893 on St. Charles and Greenwood Avenues, must most development took place from 1909 through 1926 — solidly upper-middle class neighborhoods, kept all-white by covenant.

Belknap is an urban neighborhood three and a half miles east of downtown Louisville, Kentucky, USA. The neighborhood is bound by Bardstown Road, Douglass Boulevard, Dundee Road and Newburg Road. It is part of a larger area of Louisville called the Highlands. Belknap is often described as the neighborhood in the heart of The Highlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huning Highlands</span> Neighborhood of Albuquerque

Huning Highlands, also known as EDo or East Downtown, is an inner-city neighborhood in Albuquerque, New Mexico, directly east of Downtown. It is a mostly residential area known for its high concentration of Victorian and early 20th-century houses and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Huning Highlands Historic District. There is also a commercial district along the main thoroughfares, Central Avenue and Broadway Boulevard. Huning Highlands was developed starting in 1880 and is named for Franz Huning, a prominent businessman at the time.

References

  1. ↑ "Where to Live in Denver Now | 5280 | Denver's Magazine Since 1993". Archived from the original on 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  2. ↑ Private laws of the territory of Kansas,S.W. Driggs, 1860.
  3. ↑ Provisional laws and joint resolutions passed at the first and called session of the general assembly of Jefferson Territory:held at Denver City, J. T., November and December, 1859, and January, 1860, N. T. Robertson & Clark, printers, 1860.
  4. ↑ The statutes at large, treaties, and proclamations of the United States of America from ..., Volume 13, Dennis, 1866.
  5. 1 2 The town of Highlands; the past, the present, the future. Denver, Press of C.J. Kelly, 1890.
  6. 1 2 "US Census Bureau". Archived from the original on 2013-10-13. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
  7. 1 2 http://www.piton.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=CommunityFacts.Summary&Neighborhood_ID=899#Crime And Safety
  8. ↑ http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/337/documents/2007_Analysis.pdf%5B%5D
  9. ↑ http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/337/documents/10jeffpk.pdf%5B%5D
  10. ↑ "Jefferson Park Neighborhood Data | Usaj Realty".

Coordinates: 39°45′04″N105°01′14″W / 39.75120°N 105.02051°W / 39.75120; -105.02051

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.