HISTORIC DISTRICT PRESENTATION

West Highlands Neighborhood Assoc.

Date: April 6, 2010

POTENTIAL NAMES:

Ghost Historic District Allen M. Ghost, the Denver real estate investor

and developer who platted the area in 1887. Kountze Historic District

The Kountze brothers, four siblings from eastern Ohio, were “conspicuously identified with pioneer banking in the west,” according to early Denver historian Jerome Smiley. Operating initially as “Kountze Brothers”, the men eventually established Colorado National Bank

Highlands Square Historic District Old City Line Historic District

ALLEN M GHOST

Denver real estate developer in the Town of Highlands in the late 1880s

A lawyer and educator during his early career Involved in the development of eighteen

towns in Nebraska Moved to Denver about 1877 In Colorado he engaged in real estate

acquisition and development and construction of business blocks in downtown Denver

Created Park Side Subdivision in East Denver

KOUNTZE BROTHERS

The district is principally composed of a portion of the Kountze Heights Subdivision that Ghost apparently named in honor of the Kountze brothers, who sold the land to his real estate firm, Ghost & Adams.

Initially the subdivision was advertised as having an “unsurpassed” location; fine views of Denver, Sloan’s Lake, and the mountains; shade trees; and artesian water and irrigation.

STREETCAR SUBURBS

Ghost planned the residential area as a “streetcar suburb,” which would have “quick and easy” access to downtown Denver via a street railway

Streetcar suburbs originated in the 1870s in the United States as developers acquired large tracts of land outside the city core and subdivided and marketed them as “versions of the residential ideal” enjoyed by wealthier citizens in picturesque enclaves

Homes Identified for Intensive Survey:

DID YOU KNOW:

Typical elements of streetcar suburbs include the construction of houses for both skilled workers and middle class citizens and the inclusion of housing suitable for extended families and the elderly

Houses varied in size, from small one-story to substantial two-and-a-half-story buildings

District is significant as a neighborhood of well-preserved residences reflecting architectural styles popular in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and it is especially rich in Queen Anne, Bungalow, and Edwardian style homes, which constitute the largest groups by architectural style.

INTERESTING FACTS:

During the 1890s, residents of the area pursued occupations such as teacher, clerk, railroad and street railway employees, druggist, salesman, postal carrier, government employee, business owner, machinist, fireman, policeman, physician, miner, tailor, watchmaker, dressmaker, pastor, lawyer, and bookkeeper

Numerous families took in boarders or lived with extended families well into the twentieth century

INTERESTING FACTS:

Only two of the 206 buildings within the potential district had non-Domestic original functions: the 1897 and 1955 church buildings of the Highland Park Presbyterian Church

….of the 204 buildings with Domestic original uses, 192 were single dwellings and 12 were duplexes or double houses.

ARCHITECTURAL STYLES:

Queen Anne style represents the largest group of houses by style, with 69 examples representing 33 percent of the total buildings in the district

Bungalow form houses represent the second largest category, with 33 examples or 16 percent of the total

Edwardian style homes represent 25 houses , which is 12 percent of the resources

Sixteen Classic Cottage style houses are present, constituting 8 percent of the total

Thirteen houses (6 percent) represent the Foursquare form within the neighborhood

Eleven houses are categorized simply as Late Victorian without a subcategory

1900 CENSUS:

1900 U.S. Census found those born in Colorado constituted the largest group, many of whom were children of homeowners, with New York, Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio representing the birthplaces with the next largest groups of people

District residents also included people who came from Canada, Germany, England, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, Wales, and Russia

NOTABLE RESIDENTS:

Mortician George Olinger headed an undertaking business that remains active today

Reverend Thomas Bliss was influential in theological circles and led local churches

City employee Howard C. Maloney rationalized Denver’s street system

National Register

State Register