Whittier.
A hidden Denver gem with a rich, diverse history. The neighborhood was created and initially shaped during a long period of growth from the early 1870s to the silver crash of 1893, a time when Denver was amongst the fastest growing cities in the United States and exemplified what the historian Gunter Barth describes as the “instant city.”
Image: Whittier elementary school students between 1925-1927
The neighborhood is named for an elementary school located at 25th Avenue and Downing St. which was named after John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), an abolitionist poet and a founding member of the American Republican political party. Given the philosophy of Whittier, the neighborhood was ethnically integrated from its inception.
Today, the Whittier neighborhood is ethnically diverse with Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites composing the population. A combination of proximity to downtown, parks and a public golf course in addition to a housing stock of early twentieth century homes of craftsman architecture at reasonable prices is driving an influx of young professionals and their families to the Whittier neighborhood.
Visit the Denver Public library for more Whittier neighborhood and Denver history.
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Where it all started.
The original Whittier School (now demolished) consisted of a three-story red brick building facing Marion Street, with entrances on the southeast and northeast corners. The school’s grand scale, spacious central hall, and decorative elements made Whittier one of Roeschlaub’s most exuberant schools.
Roeschlaub was invited to present the plans and photographs of Whittier Elementary School at the World Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exhibition in New Orleans in 1884. In 1885, the School District Number One report noted, “the finest view in Denver . . . may be obtained from the roof . . . a board walk is provided for their accommodation.” A north wing was added in 1888, a south wing in 1894, and a gymnasium in 1934 (which remains today). In 1970, Langhart, McGuire and Hastings designed the modern building, and the original school was torn down.
The city’s first African-American teacher, Marie Anderson Greenwood, was hired by the Denver school system to teach first grade at Whittier Elementary School in 1938. She was hired under a three-year probationary agreement, with the understanding that the school system would not hire another black until she passed her probation. Her success opened the school district to many African-American teachers.
The Whittier and San Rafael neighborhoods' early development was influenced by the Denver fire of 1863, which prompted the institution of a city ordinance that mandated a change in the quality of construction from wooden frame to brick structures. Increased urban population, a need for quality family housing, and the emphasis on permanent brick construction combined to shape this area of Denver.
The first subdivision in the area, the Case Addition, located in the northeast quadrant of the Whittier neighborhood, was filed just after the Civil War in 1868. Significant development of housing followed in the 1870s and 1880s. In February 1874, the first annexation to the city of Denver included the area of San Rafael and a portion of what is now Whittier. An early advertisement described the area as “beautifully located overlooking the city with a glorious view of the mountains.”
The majority of homes were built for middle-income Anglo-Americans. Residents included carpenters, bricklayers, and metalworkers—artisans who crafted many of the architectural details of Denver’s finest homes and buildings. Those details were often incorporated in many of the smaller houses constructed in these neighborhoods.
Beginning with the integration of the San Rafael and Whittier neighborhoods more than one hundred years ago, episodes of segregation and integration have played out there decade by decade.
To prevent them from living in other parts of the city, African-American residents were restricted to housing in the Whittier and San Rafael neighborhoods and the adjacent Five Points neighborhood. “Color lines” were drawn through the area, restricting the habitation of races to precise streets and alleys.
Whittier and San Rafael have been racially mixed neighborhoods for more than a century and have therefore been a flashpoint for many issues. In fact, the city’s history of segregation and integration was played out in large part in these neighborhoods. While portions of that history are painful, they should not be forgotten.