Denver Postcard 1977

[Chicago3rd]

Distributed by G.R. Dickson Co - 932 Inca Street., Denver Colorado

June 1977 got to stay one night in a "huge" hotel at the corner of I-25 and I-70 I believe. It was just the travel lodge. Got this post card from there.

[JackStraw]

Wow, that city hasn't chaned at all..............

All of 18, and 17th has completely changed. I never knew that large apartment tower in the back center was that old. I think it is 15th st?

The bottom shows my old walks to Cervantes. Down clarkson or Washington, Through the points to get to Welton to hang with smelly dirty hippies. Cervantes wasn't there in 73, but I bet smelly dirty hippies were.

[CONative]

I can't believe that the mountains look the same after all these years

[Buckeye Native 001]

Anyone have a photo from a similar angle from the present day to compare?

[mrskyline]

In case you're wondering, in 1977 the population for metro Denver was 1,326,500. Today it is 2,397,785.

[CONative]

Actually over 2.5 million for Denver-Aurora metro (2008 census). Most reasonable folks would at least include Boulder county with the metro area - which would make it 2.8 million.

[rds70]

That postcard photo is actually from 1973 or 1974. By 1977/78, four more towers had been added to the skyline (Colorado State Bank, Lincoln Center, World Trade Center One, and Bank of Denver North Tower):

This photo above Cherry Creek shows the skyline in summer 1978:


Also, the Denver area population in 1980 was 1,622,000, so it was probably about 1.5 million in 1977. Today, the population is just about 2.9 million.

[FrancoRey]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

Anyone have a photo from a similar angle from the present day to compare?

Sigh. Unfortunately the only photo I can find that is even relatively close to this angle is on a link only, but you can see the changes a third of a century can bring. It is really quite amazing! Note the boxy, 17-story federal building in the 1977 picture, still on the edge of the skyline, lower right, foreground in the link below. You can barely see the other buildings, and the brown condo on the right (42-story Brooks Tower) and the old D&F Clock Tower aren't even visible. The photo link picture was taken sometime early last year.

1977 Photo:



http://www.coloradoaerial.com/Den_sk..._4435_fav.html

EDIT: Nevermind, found a nearly identical image link, from the same source. Both are courtesy of coloradoaerial.com.

2008 photo:

[Buckeye Native 001]

Thanks Franco. What a difference thirty years makes

[raph93]

anyone has the same kind of pic/postcard of Colorado Springs ?

[llamaorama]

I think it's interesting that cities in the past seemed to have small skylines relative to their population. I mean for a city of 1.5 million today I would expect to see a more impressive skyline than that. I guess the 70s-80s skyscraper boom was really something.

[KevinFromTexas]

Nice. Their tallest back then wasn't all that much taller than our's, maybe 50 feet. The 70s and 80s were good to Denver's skyline, that's for sure.

[FrancoRey]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

I think it's interesting that cities in the past seemed to have small skylines relative to their population. I mean for a city of 1.5 million today I would expect to see a more impressive skyline than that. I guess the 70s-80s skyscraper boom was really something.

Need examples? Watch Dynasty the 80's TV soap opera (not even joking) , or look at some of these pics from Denverskyscrapers.com:

1970. Sorry, the photo from the postcard must've been outdated for '77:



1978:



1980:



1982! Denver's 'Dubai year':

[myshtern]

Awesome pictures. Can anyone explain to me who, when, and why decided to turn the downtown area on a 45 degree tilt to the rest of the grid? It drives me crazy.



Is that the Tivoli with all the parking around it?

[FrancoRey]

Originally Posted by myshtern

Awesome pictures. Can anyone explain to me who, when, and why decided to turn the downtown area on a 45 degree tilt to the rest of the grid? It drives me crazy.



Is that the Tivoli with all the parking around it?

Who: The first Denverites
When: 1850's-60's
Why: They wanted the street grid to parallel the Platte River and Cherry Creek, both which run northeast and northwest, respectively. In the modern era, such a unique grid system doubles as a nice perk to have additional sun hit the downtown streets twice a day, and hastens snow melt in the winter! Crazy, huh?

2nd Part: Yes, that's Tivoli all by its lonesome surrounded by asphalt, in what was, despite the great skyscraper building of the time, one of the darkest eras in Denver's urban history. All the inner-city's buildings and neighborhoods were bulldozed for 'modernization', leaving dozens of open blocks for nearly two decades. It wasn't even until the last 10 or 15 years that we have been able to fill a lot of the gaps. At that time however, downtown was either a big depressing parking lot, or an office plaza. Auraria helped around Tivoli, but even LoDo and Arapahoe Square both still have too many parking lots. A lot of old, great buildings were lost back then.

There are some really depressing photos out there of DT Denver in the mid-late seventies, but I can't seem to find them right now.

EDIT: Here are some from the The Denver Public Library, originally posted by fellow forumer The Dirt in another thread. The amount of flat open space is scary. To think all those spots were once occupied by older brick and victorian-style buildings. Crushed to rubble, all for the sake of 'modernization'.


16th Street Mall (~1985)


Energy Plaza (~1979)


Energy Plaza (~1979)

I am thankful that we didn't do worse. Denver lost a lot of buildings, but we also saved a ton. It could have been worse I suppose. But it makes me sick to my stomach to think of the number of great structures we lost. It's a subject that me and many other fellow Denver forumers could talk about for hours.

[dktshb]

Wow, I cannot believe the total destruction of so many buildings. Denver is still recovering filling in all those parking lots. I have no idea why America basically let their cities be destroyed from the 1950's on. Good thing the citizens of Denver put their foot down in the early 80's and said enough was enough.

[RockMont]

Originally Posted by Chicago3rd

Distributed by G.R. Dickson Co - 932 Inca Street., Denver Colorado

June 1977 got to stay one night in a "huge" hotel at the corner of I-25 and I-70 I believe. It was just the travel lodge. Got this post card from there.

this post card was obviously still available in 1977, but this picture was, no doubt taken in the late 1960's

[JackStraw]

This may be a stupid question. What is Energy Plaza in that 1977? I looked on the diagram section and no skyscraper was built till about 5 years after that photo. I googled it and came up with nothing.

I was thinking it was what is now the Quest building. Since it is on the edge of downtown. I am really curious because that is a shit load of open parking. I really don't remember going that far without hitting an old building in Denver. Not far from the Qwest building you had old structures in Five Points, and if it is Wells Fargo there were old buildings down Grant. I am confused.

[rds70]

Originally Posted by JackStraw

This may be a stupid question. What is Energy Plaza in that 1977? I looked on the diagram section and no skyscraper was built till about 5 years after that photo. I googled it and came up with nothing.

I was thinking it was what is now the Quest building. Since it is on the edge of downtown. I am really curious because that is a shit load of open parking. I really don't remember going that far without hitting an old building in Denver. Not far from the Qwest building you had old structures in Five Points, and if it is Wells Fargo there were old buildings down Grant. I am confused.

Its currently known by its address - 1125 17th Street:

http://www.112517thstreet.com/

On the diagram it is still listed as Bank One Tower.

[ethereal_reality]

...just sad.



unknown

View from the Daniels & Fisher Department Store tower....third tallest in the world at the time (1912).
An absolutely beautiful city.






unkown

View (northwest) from the State Capitol in 1912.
The Daniels & Fisher Tower is almost complete in the center distance.