| Whittier is a historic
Denver neighborhood northeast of Downtown, adjacent to Five Points and west of City Park.
The neighborhood is predominantly single-family homes on tree-lined streets, most
of them built in the early 20th century as Denver's population continued to expand
eastward from Downtown and Denver's first "suburban" neighborhoods of Capitol
Hill and Curtis Park. Early
residents of this neighborhood first registered in 1868 included University of Denver
founder Alfred Case and early Denver attorney Jacob Downing, who's also credited with
promoting Denver's park system. Carpenters, bricklayers and metal workers also settled in
Whittier, building Victorian, traditional Denver Square and Queen Anne-style homes.
Whittier Elementary School (2480 Downing
Street) opened in the 1880s. It was named after John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet and
abolitionist.
The most prominent connections from
Whittier to Downtown Denver are 23rd Avenue (southern boundary), Martin Luther King Blvd
(northern boundary). Convenient access is available to retail, restaurants and
services in Five Points and Uptown. City Park--one of Denver's biggest parks--and
City Park Golf Course lie just east of Whittier. The Denver Zoo is located in City
Park.
One of the most prominent landmarks in
Whittier is St. Ignatius Loyola Church on the corner of 23rd & York Street in the
neighborhood's southeast corner. The Gothic red brick church was completed in 1924
with twin bell towers. Demographically, the church followed the trends of the Whittier
neighborhood in which it is located. It was a prominent middle class congregation with
more than 1100 parishoner families in 1940. St. Ignatius Loyola has played an important
role in bringing about racial integration in Denver and the neighborhood west of City
Park, especially after World War II when the African American population began moving into
the area just west of Loyola Church. In 1996, Loyola church was placed on both the
National and Colorado State Registers of Historic Places.
portion of historic information
credit: Whittier Neighborhood Plan, 2002
FACTS:
General boundaries:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., 23rd Street, York Street, Downing Street
Population: 5,398
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