Denver in Context: A Historic Context Series

Denver’s historic fabric comes from the stories of the diverse persons and groups who comprise its vibrant history. This series seeks to gather and share the deep history and historic places of Denver’s historically underrepresented communities. A first-of-its-kind initiative in Denver, this series of historic context studies will focus on specific ethnic, racial, or cultural groups.

What is a historic context?

A historic context is a historic preservation document used to guide preservation planning. They explore the political, social, cultural, and economic trends that have shaped our built environment and explain why our built environment looks the way it does, including how, when, and why it developed the way it did. Historic contexts provide the tools needed to evaluate the potential eligibility of buildings, sites, and landscapes for designation. They can be used to raise awareness and appreciation of a community’s historic resources and architecture significance, encourage preservation, and evaluate the eligibility for designation. Denver Community Planning and Development has developed several historic contexts to help guide the city's work to identify and protect significant historic places across Denver, including the citywide building survey Discover Denver.

Current Contexts

American Indian/Indigenous Peoples Historic Context Study

Honoring and sharing the deep history and historic places of Denver’s American Indian, Indigenous Peoples, and Native American communities.

Completed Contexts

Follow this project