Timeline of Denver

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Denver, Colorado, United States, from its founding in 1858 to the present.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

1800s

1858 to 1879

  • 1858
  • 1859
    • The first burial ground, the Mount Prospect Cemetery (later called the Old Denver City Cemetery) was established.
    • Rocky Mountain News begins publication.
    • John C. Moore becomes mayor.
    • October 3: The first school, a private institution founded by O.J. Goldrick, opens for classes in Auraria on 12th Street between Market and Larimer Streets.
  • 1860
    Illustration of Denver in 1860
    • Construction of the first canal called, the "Big Ditch", to deliver water to the city begun by the Capitol Hydraulic Company.
    • January – Denver Police Department established by Mayor Moore, replacing Denver Marshals.
    • May 18: Barney Ford, who later became an important civil rights activist, arrives in Denver for the first time.
    • July – Clark, Gruber & Co. a privately owned gold brokerage and mint, produces the first coins in Colorado.
    • October 6: James Gordon executed by hanging for the drunken murder of German immigrant Jacob Gantz by order of the "People's Court" and Alexander Cameron Hunt presiding as judge.
  • 1861 – Denver City becomes part of Colorado Territory.
  • 1863
    • Telegraph begins operating.
    • April 19: Fire destroys much of Downtown and results in laws requiring new buildings to be made of brick.
  • 1864
    Flood on Cherry Creek 19 May 1864
  • 1867
    • Colorado Tribune newspaper begins publication.
    • Platte Water Company finishes the "Big Ditch" to provide Denver with water, terminating in Smith Lake in what is today Washington Park.
    • December – Legislature of Colorado Territory votes to relocate to Denver City from Golden City.
  • 1868
  • 1870
    • Denver City Water Company formed.
    • June 22: Denver Pacific Railroad completed to Cheyenne, Wyoming.
    • August 15: Kansas Pacific Railway completed near modern day Strasburg, Colorado, giving Denver its second railroad connection.
  • 1871
    • December 17: Denver Horse Railroad the first rail transit service begins operating, changing its name in the next year to the Denver City Railway Co.
  • 1873 – Palace Theater, a gambling and entertainment establishment, opened by Ed Chase.
  • 1875 – East High School opens as part of the Arapahoe School.
  • 1876
  • 1878
  • 1879
    • July 11: State Historical and Natural History Society of Colorado, later History Colorado headquartered in Denver.

1880 to 1899

  • 1880
    • Population of the City & County: 35,629
      50th most populous US city. First time in 100 most populous cities in the US.
  • 1881
    Tabor Grand Opera House, c. 1888
  • 1882
    • High Line Canal opens to provide water to agricultural areas south of Denver.
    • February 18: Purchase of land for City Park approved by Denver City Council.
    • December – Colorado Scientific Society founded in Denver, not incorporated until January 1885.
  • 1883
    • First St. Patrick's Day parade organized by Father Joseph P. Carrigan.
    • Second City Hall completed.
    • Arapahoe County Courthouse completed on 16th and Tremont Streets. It served until 1902 when Denver was separated from the county.
  • 1884
  • 1885
    • November – Mercantile Library, a predecessor of the Public Library, opened by the Denver Chamber of Commerce.
  • 1886
  • 1887
    • College of the Sacred Heart (later renamed Regis University) relocates to Denver.
    • February 28: Congress votes to establish an army base near Denver, later named Fort Logan, due to the petitioning of the citizens of the city.
  • 1889
    • Construction of the Boston Building, Denver's first modern office building begins.
    • July 30: Soapy Smith assaults and injures Rocky Mountain News editor John Arkins. The News declares a crusade to rid Denver of the bad man, which took a decade to complete.
    • Denver Athletic Club's historic clubhouse is built.
  • 1890
    University Hall, built in 1890
    • Population of the City & County: 106,713
      26th most populous US city.
    • Elitch Gardens amusement venue opens.
    • Mount Prospect, the Denver City Cemetery, closed to further burials.
    • April 8: Construction of the Masonic Temple begins at 16th and Welton Streets.
  • 1891
  • 1892
  • 1893
    • Denver's oldest continuously operating restaurant, the Buckhorn Exchange opens under the name "The Rio Grande Exchange".
    • Denver government orders all bodies to be removed from the old City Cemetery.
    • Denver Artist Club, which later became the Denver Art Museum founded.
    • June – Silver prices fall from $1.05 per ounce to 83¢ per ounce, starting the Denver Depression.
    • July
      • 18: Six Denver banks fail.
      • 19: Three more banks suspend payments.
  • 1894
    Colorado State Capitol c. 1901-1902
    • February 7: South Denver annexed by the city.
    • Colorado State Capitol building complete, Governor Davis Hanson Waite moves his office to the building.
    • March 15: Governor Waite orders state militiamen to march on Denver City Hall to remove the Police and Fire Commissioners in what became known as the City Hall War.
  • 1895
  • 1896 – Denver Zoo founded because of the gift of a orphan bear to Mayor Thomas S. McMurray.
  • 1898
  • 1899
Downtown Denver in 1898 photograph taken from state capitol towards 16th Street

1900s

Crystalline gold from Farncomb Hill, near Breckenridge, Colorado.

1900 to 1919

1920 to 1939

  • 1920
    Photograph of crowd during the Denver streetcar strike
    • Population of the City & County: 256,491
      25th most populous US city.
    • Fitzsimmons Army Hospital built.
    • August: Streetcar strike kills seven, ending with federal soldiers placing the city under martial law.
  • 1922
  • 1923
  • 1929
    • Denver Municipal Airport begins operating.
    • March 26: Ground breaking ceremony for new City and County Building, completed in 1932.
  • 1930
    • Population of the City & County: 287,861
      29th most populous US city.
    • U.S. Customhouse built.
    • August 29: Paramount Theatre opens.
  • 1932
  • 1933
    • August 3: At about 5:00 in the morning the Castlewood Dam collapsed sending floodwaters into Denver.
  • 1934 – Denver Symphony Orchestra established.
  • 1938
    • February 26: U.S. Lowry Air Force Base dedicated on the site of the former Agnes Memorial Sanatorium.
  • 1939 – The Pit, the first gay bar in Denver opens.

1940 to 1959

1960 to 1979

1980 to 1999

2000s

2000s

2010s

2020s

  • 2020
    • Population of the City & County: 715,522
      19th most populous US city.
  • 2021
    • December 27: A gunman goes on a shooting spree across the Denver metropolitan area, killing five and injuring two before dying in a shootout with police.
  • 2023

See also