Larimer Street

General William H. Larimer, Jr., founder of Denver City, established on November 22, 1858, named the city after the Governor of the Kansas Territory and its principal street after himself. Some of Denver’s first cabins stood at the corner of 15th and Larimer Streets. Larimer Street became Denver’s main thoroughfare after it escaped the 1863 fire that destroyed buildings along Market and Blake Streets. By the 1880’s, it had gained a reputation as Denver’s main shopping and entertainment area, where the Vanderbilts, Guggenheims, and Rothschilds dined and shopped in its fine establishments. Its prominent buildings included City Hall at 14th and Larimer, the Tabor Block at 16th and Larimer, and the Windsor Hotel at 18th and Larimer. At the Windsor, Horace Tabor, owner of the Leadville Matchless Mine, Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, and U.S. Senator, courted Baby Doe, creating a scandal by divorcing his wife and later marrying the younger woman. Other famous and infamous guests at the Windsor included Bat Masterson, Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, Soapy Smith, Jack Kerouac, David Moffat, Ulysses S. Grant, and John L. Sullivan. After the silver crash of 1893, Larimer Street and Lower Downtown fell into decline. Few buildings were constructed until the 1970’s. The area became Denver’s Skid Row until restoration began with the 1400 block of Larimer Street, now a National Historic District known as Larimer Square. Under Denver’s Skyline Urban Renewal Project, new buildings were constructed along Larimer from 15th to 20th Streets, including Writers Square and the Tabor Center.

Denver, Colorado · United States