About Denver CO
Denver is the capital and most populous city in the state of Colorado. It is situated in the South Platte River Valley on the west end of the High Plains. In the 1850s, a group of gold prospectors from Kansas founded Montana City as a mining town on the shores of the South Platte River. This happened to be the very first historical settlement at the future site of Denver City. In 1858, William Larimer and Jonathan Cox put in place cottonwood logs to claim the bluff that overlooked the convergence of the South Platte River and the Cherry Creek. Larimer opted to name the new settlement as Denver City to impress the then Kansas Governor James Denver. He hoped that making such a move would lead to the town being chosen as the country seat of Arapaho County. However, Larimer’s timing was wrong as Denver had already resigned from being the governor of the Kansas Territory.
The new town was easily accessible to the preexisting trails. The site of this former town is now the site for the Confluence Park, close to the City of Denver’s downtown area. Larimer and his group sold land in the area to merchants and miners with the objective of building a key city that could attract new immigrants. At first, Denver was a frontier town whose economic base laid in servicing miners with gambling, livestock and good trading along with saloons. The Colorado Territory was founded in 1861, and in the same year Denver was formally incorporated as a city. It as well started serving as the county seat for Arapaho County from the mid 19th century until it was consolidated as a city-county in the early 20th century. The City of Denver was chosen as the capital of Colorado in 1867.
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Top attractions
Denver is a key hub for culture and the arts in the state of Colorado. To begin with, its Apollo Hall was first opened shortly after the city’s incorporation and started staging plays to enthusiastic settlers. In 1880, Denver’s very first opera house was constructed by Horace Tabor. After the turn of the 20th century, the leaders of Denver City began a beautification initiative, which led to the construction of its parks, museums, parkways and even the Municipal Auditorium. The last of which is renowned for hosting the 1908 Democratic Party’s national convention, and is now known as the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Denver is as well home to numerous nationally acclaimed museums.
One of the most prominent is the Denver Art Museum that features the 2nd biggest performing arts center in the country and is only 2nd to Lincoln Center in New York City. There is the Denver Museum of Nature & Science that houses an aquamarine specimen worth more than $1 million. The City of Denver as well boasts of the state of Colorado history museum that is referred to as the History Colorado Center. This Denver museum showcases a variety of hands-on as well as interactive exhibits and artifacts. All of which focus on the state’s rich historical heritage. It is important to note that the History Colorado Center was recognized by True West Magazine as being one of the #10 must see history museums in the United States in the year 2013.
Denver is also home to many art districts such as the Denver Art District on the Santa Fe, the River North Art District to name just but a few. This Colorado capital city also has a good number of bustling neighborhoods including LoDo that comes complete with art galleries, trendy restaurants, pubs and even nightclubs. Denver also hosts a number of annual festivals which attract many visitors from all over the country. One of the most prominent of these is the Great American Beer Festival that is held each year in the autumn season.
Union Station
Denver’s Union Station serves as both a public transit station and a trendy dining and shopping hub. It was first opened to the public in 1881 and acted as a railroad service until the building was razed by an inferno in 1894. Fortunately, the original architecture of the Union Station of the early 20th century was well preserved and still exists even at this moment. This leading City of Denver attraction now serves as an Amtrak hub as well as a bus concourse. Situated in the Lower Downtown area of the city, otherwise known as LoDo, the Union Station now comes complete with diverse dining, shopping and accommodation options. This includes trendy restaurants, boutiques and the Crawford Hotel.
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum boasts of numerous art galleries, which showcase over 70,000 works of arts by some of the best known masters in this given field. This includes Van Gogh, Winslow Homer to mention just but a few. This City of Denver museum is famous for housing an exceptional collection of artworks in between the City of Chicago and the American West Coast. The Denver Art Museum occupies 2 different buildings and some of its most popular attractions include pre-Columbian artifacts and contemporary exhibits that comprise of paintings and sculpture. Yet another highlight of paying a visit to this Denver museum for the arts is its comprehensive exhibit on Western America works of art. This particular collection features paintings, sculptures and works on paper associated with the US West and date back to 2 previous centuries.
Red Rock Park & Amphitheater
This is yet another very popular attraction in the City of Denver and offers a wide variety of activities suited to any tastes or preferences. This includes offering scenic views of the famous Rocky Mountains, miles of hiking trails and cinnamon colored cliffs. The Red Rock Park & Amphitheater is sprawled on around 700 acres, and lets visitors experience the marvelous transition from the Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains. One of its top attractions is, without question, the Trading Post Trail that covers around 1 and ½ miles and it meanders through rust colored buttes. Yet another popular attraction of the City of Denver’s Red Rock Park is its sizeable amphitheater that has played host to concerts by globally renowned musicians over the years. This includes the Beatles, John Denver, Tom Petty to mention just but a few.
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science makes it a point to showcase a wide variety of exhibits that include real dinosaur bones and even Egyptian mummies. The primary mission of this City of Denver museum is to offer inspiration to both the young and the young at heart to discover and learn more about nature and science. The exhibits of the Denver Museum of Nature cover a wide range of scientific fields. This includes zoology, anthropology, geology, health sciences, paleontology and even space science. One of its most popular attractions is its wildlife exhibit, which features over 90 different habitats.
Denver Zoo
Patterned after an East African nature preserve, the Denver Zoo is home to over 4,000 wild animals. This includes lions, rhinos, tigers, kangaroos and even orangutans. It is sprawled in a 80 acre parcel of land in the City of Denver’s City Park, and one of its popular attraction is the Predator Ridge, which is essentially a recreated African Savannah that comes complete with lions, hyenas and African dogs. There is also the Primate Panorama habitat in which monkeys swing from trees. Another popular attraction of the Denver Zoo is the Tropical Discovery habitat that is home to green tree pythons and Panamanian golden frogs.