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Old Posted Sep 20, 2007, 6:45 AM
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denveraztec denveraztec is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Governor's Park/Capitol Hill, Denver
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DenverAztec - Historic Denver Schools

With the school year beginning again, I felt the urge to post a Historic Denver school tour. In the late 1800’s, the Denver Public School system had as part of its mission a goal to become the best school system in the United States. Not only offering the highest salaries in the country to attracted the best teachers and professors, the school system also sought out some of the countries best architects to design hundreds of schools encompassing unique and incredible structures. The best designs came to fruition in the early 1900’s and most of those beautiful schools are still in existence as schools to this day, public or charter. Along with the public schools came the private early education schools, and colleges. Some were demolished and others have become condos/lofts but their elegance can still be found in almost every neighborhood in Denver today. I photographed below mostly public schools but did include a few of the parochial schools and private colleges plus some that became condo units. In 2000 Historic Denver received a National Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for its work land marking Denver Public Schools.

I had the privilege of attending two of the schools in the thread below, but as a child I did not appreciate how fortunate I was to walk into these buildings daily. But I do recall during the winter the steam heaters in the rooms and how hot it was in the spring without air conditioning. In most of these buildings, only the windows have been replaced and some have had expansion additions added. Almost all have marble floors and staircases, some with flying buttress ceilings in their lunchrooms and auditoriums and molded walls and ceilings in their libraries. Inside is just as beautiful as the outside. Here are just a few of the schools that run deep with history, imagined and true legends, but for me, wonderful memories. I hope you enjoy the photos and the structures.


Elementary Schools:

Denver Public Schools Logo








Valverde Elementary School – 1923







Wyatt Edison Elementary School - 1887




Smedley Elementary - 1911



Saint Joseph’s School



Sherman School, now Art Student League





Garden Place







Emerson Elementary School - 1884







Asbury Elementary





Berkley School - 1908







Edison Elementary School









Dora Moore Elementary School









Junior High Schools and Middle Schools

Lake Junior High School at Sloan’s Lake Park, built in the 1920’s (this is the Junior High I was fortunate to attend)
















Cole Junior High / Middle School – circa 1900









Horace Mann Junior High School designed by Temple Buell in the 1920’s







Byers Junior High School



Morey Middle School





Skinner Junior High School





High Schools

Denver West High School

Was originally founded in 1884 but the original structure was too small for the city's ever combining districts. The new building pictured was built in 1925 and viewed from Sunken Gardens built in 1907. West boasts the oldest established High School Alumni Association in the country. I was in the 100th graduating class, yes I am old.










North High School

Classic Beaux-Arts style structure, built in 1911.






East High School

Built in 1925 – Modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia by architect Robert S. Roeschlaub. Used recently in a video from the Denver band The Fray and as amongst it’s alumni Don Cheadle, Judy Collins, three members of Earth, Wind and Fire (Philip Bailey), Dianne Reeves, Hattie McDaniel from “Gone with the Wind” and Pam Grier.














South High School

The High School was designed by the architectural firm of Fisher & Fisher in the time's popular Romanesque style. Sculptor Robert Garrison created many of the building's adornment, including the 3 foot (1 meter) tall gargoyle above the building's main entrance; the symbolic protector of South inspired by a gargoyle at the Italian Cathedral of Spoleto. South's Clock Tower is thought to be a replica of the one at Santa Maria in Cosmedin.








College/Universities

Johnson and Wales University
















Originally the Sisters of Loretto Girls School, circa 1900, then the Salvation Army and now condos. Next door to Molly Brown’s house.





Clayton College Campus – Victorian Romanesque, Late 1800s











Regis Jesuit University - Built in 1884

















The University of Denver Campus, 1890





The Iliff School of theology at the University of Denver, built in 1892





















Chamberlin Observatory at the University of Denver built in 1890 and houses the famous 20-inch Alvan Clark-Saegmuller refractor telescope which is still in use today.







Loretto Heights

Built 1891, the campus has 19 buildings on 74 acres. It is now a part of the Teikyo Group and known as Teikyo Loretto Heights University. It is focused on international studies.












I will post other photos of the various historic Denver churches, government building, libraries and a few of the hundreds of historic homes in later threads. Thank you for looking, hope you enjoyed and I look forward to your comments!

Last edited by denveraztec; Sep 21, 2007 at 2:33 PM.
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