Auraria Campus history

By 1859, a modest number of cabins and other buildings, host to a variety of businesses, had been established.

The two towns, and their respective boosters, entered a short-lived but acrimonious contest for supremacy; the futility of competition, and the possibility of cooperation, led to a merger in April 1860 and the establishment of a single urban entity: Denver.

Sigi’s Brewery was founded in 1864.

Mortiz Sigi established the Colorado Brewery in 1866.

In 1872, Denver’s first Dentist, a Quaker named William Smedley built a house at 1020 9th Street.

However, his improvements to the Brewery would cease in 1875 when Sigi was killed when his horses were frightened and overturned the carriage he was riding in.

Today, a street of thirteen beautifully restored Victorian homes, five of them dated before Colorado’s statehood in 1876, and one commercial property, serve as campus offices and commercial space.

German Immigrants and Franciscan Brothers constructed St Elizabeth’s Catholic Church (along with an adjacent school), and Irish Immigrants built St Leo’s Catholic church in 1887.

In 1890, his brewery had become quite large, and he had a tower built on top, making it the most distinctive building of the region.

In 1892, he built the Turnhalle Opera House adjacent to his brewery.

Sigi’s Brewery was founded in 1864. It was renamed the Tivoli Brewing Company after Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen in 1901 by John Good.

Andres “Andy” Trujillo in his Model T Ford in Auraria in 1910 – Denver Public Library

KKK at the Summit of Pikes Peak July 4, 1923 (Denver Public Library)

St Cajetan’s Catholic Church, the spiritual and cultural heart of Auraria’s Hispanic community, was constructed in 1926 at the corner of Lawrence and Ninth.

Denver was home to Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, a Denver native, born in 1928.

Hoover managed to pass the Federal Home Loan Bank Act and Emergency Relief and Construction Act in the last months of his presidency in 1932, but the bill was short sighted and too late.

Unwavered by his conservative Congress, Roosevelt tried a different approach in founding the Home Owner Loan Corporation (HOLC) in 1933.

He created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and passed another housing bill in 1934.

Work Projects Administration Poster (1936) commissioned by the Federal Government promoting planned housing as the solution to a host of inner-city problems, showing an inkblot on which are drawn elements of inner-city life.

Conservative opposition dragged the program along without significant funding until Congress abandoned the program in 1938.

St Cajetan’s was that place." By 1941, the concentration of Hispanics in Auraria, like the concentration of African Americans in Five Points, had become a matter of concern to city officials, who grew concerned over the stress and overcrowding of the homes and apartments of the neighborhoods.

In 1945 LoRaine’s second husband, Royce Kent, became the President of the Brewery while she took over as Chairman of the Board.

Stapleton regained his seat, and maintained his position until 1947.

Unfortunately, while this bill did some good, the Housing Act of 1949 also reinforced the pre-existing inequalities, often incentivizing development in areas that developers had already been eyeing, and investing very little money into communities where poor people would ultimately remain.

As early as 1950, cities began trying to tackle the problem of deteriorating city centers.

By 1952, urban renewal efforts in Denver led to 3,240 successfully built units in thirteen projects, providing new homes across the city, except not in the Auraria neighborhood.

A 1954 legislative amendment created loopholes for governments to list private expenditures as a part of their 1/3rd of the funding.

When William F. Nicholson became mayor in 1955, he told voters that urban renewal, and the “clearing of slums” was his number one priority.

Mayor Nicholson cutting a ribbon to open a 2.5 Million dollar new jail in downtown Denver – February 28th, 1956.

However, in 1957, voters in Denver showed that they didn’t have much faith in the concept of Urban Renewal, when they defeated an income tax increase which would have funded DURC. As a result, DURC’s Budget was slashed 90%.

With a growing population, many more students would reach college age by the mid 1960’s.

In 1962, another Legislative Committee was formed: a Task Group on Post High School Education in the Denver metropolitan area to replace the existing subcommittee.

In 1963, the synagogue sold the building and it became a private artist studio.

Despite their campaigning, voters rejected a $8-million dollar bond proposal in 1964.

The site had been targeted as early as 1965 in the Mayor’s Platte River study as an urban renewal project.

The Denver Planning Office identified 9 potential sites for the college in April of 1966.

When the Auraria Higher Education Center campus was announced in 1968 the effect on the Westside residents was huge – in some ways immeasurable.

One of the first actions of the group was to produce their own survey and a “Preliminary Analysis of the Survey by the Auraria Residents Organization” in January 1969.

DURA, in 1970, offered no more than $1.45 a foot and were legally allowed to take their homes if they refused the offer.

In May 1971 Denver’s City Council approved DURA’s final plans and DURA proceeded to evacuate residents from the region.

In October 1973, demolition was nearly completed, and AHEC held a ground breaking ceremony for construction of the new campus.

Auraria today is the thriving campus of the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) that opened in 1976.

Regional Transporation District Newsletter: Volume 7 Number 8 – 1977 December – The Downtown Denver INC promoting the New 16th Street Mall.

Shortly after Meir’s death in 1978 the duplex on Julian Street was identified as her Denver home.

Judd, Dennis R. “From Cowtown to Sunbelt City: Boosterism and Economic Growth in Denver.” In S. Fainstein, N. Fainstein, R.L. Hill, D. Judd, and M.P. Smith, (1983) Restructuring the Political Economy of Urban Development New York and London: Longman, 178-179.

Golda Meir House Relocation Preparation plans never came to fruition and, in 1985, the duplex was moved once again a short distance away on West Louisiana Avenue.

In 1991, Auraria students voted to buy back and re-develop the Tivoli to use for educational purposes.

The building received Denver Landmark Preservation Commission status in 1995.

In 1997, upon completion of the restoration, renovation, and landscaping, Governor Roy Romer dedicated the new Golda Meir House Museum and Center for Political Leadership.

Corson, Dan W. (1998) “Dana Crawford: from Larimer Square to LoDo, Historic Preservation in Denver.” Thesis (MS.) University of Colorado at Denver.

Wismar, Aimee (May 6, 2016). “Auraria’s First Immigrant Groups”. CU Denver History Department. http://www.historyincolorado.org/auraria-history