200:
system, still in place in modern Denver, streets running from northwest to southeast are designated as heading north from the zero point and are numbered, while streets running from northeast to southwest are designated as heading east from the zero point and are named. A notable exception came when 23rd Street, which had been treated like any other numbered streets in downtown Denver, was renamed Park Avenue West and designated as running west rather than north, in order to match up with its eastern continuation, Park Avenue, which extends diagonally south-east into the otherwise compass-oriented grid east of
Broadway.
196:"avenue", etc. Later, these terms were defined such that "street" designated roads running north and south and aligned with the hundreds of the numbering system, with "court" for intermediate (non-hundreds) north–south roads and "way" for roads which start north–south but curve to intersect with another north–south road; "avenue", "place", and "drive" (respectively) are the corresponding terms for roads running east and west. Major arterials in both directions, however, are often called "boulevards", and "road" and "parkway" also make appearances.
359:. It is the demarcation between east and west avenues in Denver. The intersection of Broadway and Ellsworth Avenue is the center of Denver's decimal-based address system. All points in every direction count up from the intersection. Broadway continues uninterrupted throughout the city, for approximately 20 miles, with 3.2 miles (5.1 km) from I-25 to 20th Avenue carrying only southbound traffic. North of downtown, Interstate 25 roughly replaces Broadway as the demarcation point for cities in the Denver Regional Council of Government.
20:
82:
230:
hundred-block numbers extending from the axes. Strictly speaking, only the portions of streets south of
Ellsworth need be designated "South" and the portions of avenues west of Broadway need be designated "West." Without a directional designation, streets are automatically assumed to be north of Ellsworth and avenues assumed to be east of Broadway, although it is common to refer to these avenues as "East".
140:, an early settler, collaborated to plot and name the streets of the new town. These were laid out parallel not to Cherry Creek, but to the South Platte River with perpendicular cross streets. Because Cherry Creek and the South Platte meet at nearly a 90° angle, the cross streets of Auraria were nearly parallel to the streets of Denver and vice versa.
69:, such as Leetsdale Drive and South Santa Fe Drive, fall outside this pattern and run diagonally through the city. These roads generally originated as county roads or other major routes used by early settlers. The names of many of these roads change as they wind through the grid, following the name officially designated for a road in that area.
250:, Howard Maloney, collaborated with the city to impose an orderly set of names to the roads, with each unique name designating exactly one road. In most areas, these streets are named in alphabetical order. The first set of changes took place in 1897, with further renaming in 1904. In 1906, many adjacent communities adopted Denver's system.
221:
First Street) to 199 (nearest Second Street). Named streets also follow this pattern, with
Cheyenne Place designated the 100 block and numbers increasing toward the northwest. In the diagonal grid, even-numbered addresses are on the west (i.e. southwest) sides of numbered streets and the east (i.e. northeast) side of named streets.
220:
In 1887, a decimal grid was imposed. Instead of counting addresses up arbitrarily along a direction, this system specified a "hundred block" for each street. For example, First Street is the 100 block, with all addresses on any named street between First and Second
Streets ascending from 100 (nearest
152:
laid out the first streets in Denver parallel to the cardinal directions, with streets running directly north–south and east–west. His grid was located directly east of Denver (which had absorbed
Auraria in 1860), from what is now Broadway to the alley between Grant and Logan Streets and from 11th to
203:
The east–west avenues, originally named, were first numbered in 1871, with modern East 35th Avenue designated First Avenue; however, this system was abandoned in 1886, when the city passed an ordinance linking avenue numbers to the street numbers of the diagonal grid. Where a numbered street met an
199:
Attempts to rationalize the street system began early. In 1873, the diagonal streets of
Auraria and original Denver were renamed, with the zero point at the original southwest corner of Denver, the intersection of West Colfax Avenue and Zuni Street, near the South Platte River. According to this
211:
intersection. They are also extrapolated north of the grid, beyond Denver's main northern border at 52nd Avenue to 168th Avenue at the border between Adams and Weld
Counties. Avenue numbers are also extrapolated south from Colfax to First Avenue. Ellsworth Ave is the 00 point, and south of here
172:
Denver grew rapidly in its first thirty years. Areas were developed with little direction from the government of the young city, with each developer platting streets largely independently of others. As a result, where original developments meet, many streets do not line up with one another; for
195:
were not coordinated from development to development, even for along the same north–south or east–west line. Some names were used more than once, by different streets across various Denver neighborhoods and surrounding towns. There was no universal system for the use of terms like "street",
229:
whose axes are
Broadway (north−south) and Ellsworth Avenue (east−west). For numbered avenues, the hundred block corresponds to the number of the avenue (e.g. 17th Avenue designates the 1700 block North). Avenues south of Ellsworth are named, as are all streets running north−south, and have
97:, downtown, and northeast of downtown into the Five Points neighborhood. Most of the rest of the city's streets, as well as many of those of the surrounding suburbs, are laid out in an east–west/north–south pattern. These two grids result from early land development in the area.
204:
avenue at
Broadway, the avenue was given the number of the connecting street; thus 16th Street provided the number for 16th Avenue, and so forth. An exception was Colfax Avenue, which meets 15th Street and is the equivalent of 15th Avenue, but retained its original name.
567:
runs diagonally through the heart of Denver starting in the
Highland neighborhood at Irving Street slicing through the city until it combines with 1st Avenue in the Country Club Neighborhood. A large portion of the road follows the flow of Cherry Creek through the
578:, which it runs through. While it does not exist north of 6th Avenue (its traffic separates into the York Street / Josephine Street couplet), it is a major artery into and through Denver's far south suburbs, where it becomes 2400 East, south of Hampden Avenue.
516:
is the equivalent of 23rd Street in downtown Denver. It runs from I-25 south-east through downtown. It maintains its diagonal heading through Uptown and the classic (N-S-E-W) grid, coming to an end at the three-way intersection with Colfax Avenue and Franklin
459:
runs parallel to Broadway, one block to the east. For 3.2 miles (5.1 km) between I-25 and 20th Avenue, Broadway carries only southbound traffic and Lincoln becomes a major thoroughfare, carrying four lanes of northbound traffic. It is distinct from
241:
were originally applied with no consistency; the same road designation might have as many as ten different names in different parts of the city, and many different roads might share the same name. This inconsistency created significant problems for the
444:
through the southwestern suburbs, where it is a limited access highway. It then becomes a 4 to 6 lane avenue until reaching Dayton Street near the Denver/Aurora border, where it is interrupted by Cherry Creek Dam and turns north into Aurora's
510:. It originally began at West Colfax Avenue, and exists for only brief portions near the Platte River and between Knox Court and Sheridan Boulevard in west Denver before reappearing west of Wadsworth Boulevard on its trajectory to Morrison.
224:
In the rest of the grid, even numbers are on the east sides of streets and the south sides of avenues, while odd numbers are on the west sides of streets and north sides of avenues. This decimal system forms a
54:. The rest of the city, including the eastern part of downtown, is laid out primarily on a grid oriented to the cardinal directions. In this larger grid, from east to west, there are generally 16
58:
per mile, except between Zuni Street and Lowell Boulevard in west Denver. From north to south, there are typically eight blocks per mile, although there are many areas with more blocks per mile.
404:, while not a major thoroughfare anywhere in the city, is the demarcation between north and south streets. All avenues north of Ellsworth are numbered, and south of it are named.
243:
207:
The avenues were then numbered consecutively to the north, even where they began to deviate from the diagonal grid, so that 27th Street meets 26th Avenue in the
815:
763:
382:
129:, with perpendicular cross streets. These streets that followed the path of a natural body of water happened to be diagonal to the four cardinal directions.
410:
runs through the neighborhood of Hale and north of Rose Medical Center. It runs from Albion Street to Grape Street, and from 8th Avenue to 12th Avenue.
160:
laid out streets on an east–west/north–south grid south of the original Denver plat, southeast of the modern intersection between Broadway and
420:. It interchanges with several major highways and runs east to the Denver city limit, where it transitions to Iliff Avenue and enters Aurora.
181:
between Broadway and Colorado Boulevard south of East Colfax Avenue, there are only 39 blocks in the same stretch on the north side.
553:
is a major north–south thoroughfare located at 5200 West. Much of Sheridan's distance serves as a city boundary between Denver and
345:, north of Denver, there are sections in which Brighton Boulevard and Brighton Road both run separately, parallel to each other.
416:
and the famous Mount Evans, which appears to be at the end of the street, is named after (as noted above) territorial governor
132:
The town of St. Charles, later named Denver, was founded later in 1858, located across Cherry Creek from Auraria. Its founder,
426:
is a major north–south thoroughfare which runs as a crosstown road through Denver. It travels from West Bowles Avenue in
885:
875:
854:
312:. On the other side of the creek, Alameda continues eastward toward Aurora. It is sometimes known as Alameda Parkway.
767:
789:
486:, and received this name in 1980. In 2019, it was extended eastward to Peoria Street in Aurora, where it becomes
417:
157:
185:
890:
880:
626:
483:
226:
496:
is the equivalent of East 20th Avenue east of Colorado Boulevard and was named for Denver's view of the
474:
is equivalent to East 32nd Avenue from Downing Street to Havana Street. It runs through several largely
630:
618:
540:
634:
622:
611:
607:
479:
450:
110:
70:
246:, which had difficulties both providing service and billing because of the chaotic street system. A
603:
599:
595:
465:
395:
388:
in an attempt to win his support for Colorado's statehood. The name first appeared on maps in 1868.
297:
342:
133:
122:
114:
334:
323:
309:
895:
274:
move traffic from arterials into neighborhoods and business districts. All other streets are
575:
524:
431:
394:
is a major north–south thoroughfare at 4000 East. It also carries a significant portion of
366:
356:
305:
208:
43:
8:
558:
427:
59:
51:
591:
554:
507:
330:
319:
126:
90:
62:
follow a decimal system, with addresses advancing by one hundred at each cross street.
365:
is equivalent to East 34th Avenue between Downing Street and Dahlia Street. It honors
850:
645:
531:. This was called the Santa Fe Trail, although it is not part of the more well-known
475:
301:
118:
31:
497:
385:
440:
is a major east–west thoroughfare at 3500 South. Most of the route also carries
532:
293:
270:
149:
94:
89:
Modern Denver has two grids. One is laid out diagonal with respect to the four
35:
268:
are major routes, arranged in a network to provide mobility around the city.
869:
544:
373:
352:
264:
174:
161:
137:
66:
23:
441:
26:
at Broadway, where the downtown street grid and the "normal" city grid meet
326:
247:
238:
192:
574:
is a major north–south thoroughfare located at 2350 East, named for the
557:. From the southern end, Sheridan starts from roughly Quincy Avenue in
528:
276:
178:
55:
292:
is a major east–west thoroughfare at 300 south. It travels from near
188:
47:
536:
262:
board classifies streets into three types based on functionality.
19:
81:
378:
85:
Map of Denver in 1898, showing the two different grid alignments.
177:
in streets running north and south. In fact, while there are 40
587:
Highways that have portions running in or near Denver include:
259:
641:
113:, founded in 1858; it was the first permanent settlement of
106:
39:
121:. The streets were laid out parallel to the south bank of
322:, Colorado, and was the original route to that city, the
215:
153:
20th Avenues. This layout followed federal land policy.
543:
to the I-25 interchange, Santa Fe Drive also carries
808:
369:, a local community figure in the 1970s and 1980s.
233:
816:"Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Extension Project"
143:
867:
847:Denver Streets: Names, Numbers, Locations, Logic
523:follows the path of an old trail from Denver to
308:neighborhood as it is displaced by the namesake
283:
464:, a mostly east–west thoroughfare in suburban
173:example, there are many displacements on East
351:was named by developer Henry C. Brown after
167:
796:. Denver Public Library Special Collections
766:. City and County of Denver. Archived from
449:. Hampden then continues through Aurora at
377:, equivalent to 15th Avenue, was named for
280:, which provide access to individual lots.
849:. Denver: Denver New Social Publications.
156:About the same time, territorial governor
844:
764:"Street Classifications/Characteristics"
253:
117:in Colorado, which was then part of the
80:
18:
868:
398:. Originally named McKinley Boulevard.
216:Development of the modern decimal grid
50:that is oriented diagonal to the four
740:
738:
719:
717:
304:. The road disappears briefly in the
16:Dual street grid system in Denver, CO
698:
696:
694:
675:
673:
671:
453:just east of Cherry Creek Reservoir.
100:
13:
735:
714:
705:
14:
907:
726:
691:
668:
659:
105:The first streets in Denver were
561:to Baseline Road in Weld County.
472:Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
258:The City and County of Denver's
782:
756:
617:Other limited-access freeways:
234:Application of consistent names
747:
682:
144:The east–west/north–south grid
1:
838:
284:Names of major Denver streets
125:near its confluence with the
109:in what was then the town of
73:do not follow the grid plan.
822:. Denver: The Mile High City
790:"1903 Town of Montclair Map"
514:Park Avenue/Park Avenue West
184:Street names reflected this
7:
582:
227:Cartesian coordinate system
34:, now the neighborhoods of
10:
912:
820:Department of Public Works
337:tracks. It is also called
244:Denver Union Water Company
76:
506:is named for the town of
478:neighborhoods, including
383:29th Speaker of the House
329:. It roughly follows the
168:Early street designations
886:Lists of streets by city
876:Transportation in Denver
845:Goodstein, Phil (1994).
652:
430:to West 120th Avenue in
298:Buckley Space Force Base
42:, much of downtown, and
134:General William Larimer
367:"Daddy" Bruce Randolph
335:Union Pacific Railroad
86:
27:
794:Denver Public Library
753:Goodstein, pp. 11−12.
363:Bruce Randolph Avenue
254:Street classification
84:
22:
576:University of Denver
572:University Boulevard
341:in sections, and in
891:Streets in Colorado
881:Geography of Denver
688:Goodstein, pp. 7−8.
592:Interstate highways
484:Northeast Park Hill
381:Representative and
212:avenues are named.
148:In 1864, developer
91:cardinal directions
71:Interstate highways
52:cardinal directions
46:, is laid out on a
30:The oldest part of
551:Sheridan Boulevard
494:Montview Boulevard
488:Fitzsimons Parkway
392:Colorado Boulevard
331:South Platte River
316:Brighton Boulevard
127:South Platte River
87:
28:
744:Goodstein, p. 11.
723:Goodstein, p. 10.
711:Goodstein, p. 39.
646:Northwest Parkway
451:Parker Road/CO 83
424:Federal Boulevard
408:East Hale Parkway
271:Collector streets
101:The diagonal grid
903:
860:
832:
831:
829:
827:
812:
806:
805:
803:
801:
786:
780:
779:
777:
775:
760:
754:
751:
745:
742:
733:
732:Goodstein, p. 9.
730:
724:
721:
712:
709:
703:
702:Goodstein, p. 8.
700:
689:
686:
680:
679:Goodstein, p. 7.
677:
666:
665:Goodstein, p. 5.
663:
476:African American
402:Ellsworth Avenue
333:'s path and the
119:Kansas Territory
93:and is found on
32:Denver, Colorado
911:
910:
906:
905:
904:
902:
901:
900:
866:
865:
857:
841:
836:
835:
825:
823:
814:
813:
809:
799:
797:
788:
787:
783:
773:
771:
770:on May 23, 2013
762:
761:
757:
752:
748:
743:
736:
731:
727:
722:
715:
710:
706:
701:
692:
687:
683:
678:
669:
664:
660:
655:
640:Toll highways:
585:
565:Speer Boulevard
498:Rocky Mountains
386:Schuyler Colfax
286:
256:
236:
218:
170:
146:
103:
79:
17:
12:
11:
5:
909:
899:
898:
893:
888:
883:
878:
862:
861:
855:
840:
837:
834:
833:
807:
781:
755:
746:
734:
725:
713:
704:
690:
681:
667:
657:
656:
654:
651:
650:
649:
638:
615:
584:
581:
580:
579:
569:
562:
548:
533:Santa Fe Trail
521:Santa Fe Drive
518:
511:
501:
491:
469:
466:Douglas County
462:Lincoln Avenue
457:Lincoln Street
454:
438:Hampden Avenue
435:
421:
411:
405:
399:
389:
370:
360:
346:
313:
294:Red Rocks Park
290:Alameda Avenue
285:
282:
255:
252:
235:
232:
217:
214:
169:
166:
150:Henry C. Brown
145:
142:
102:
99:
95:Auraria Campus
78:
75:
67:arterial roads
36:Auraria Campus
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
908:
897:
894:
892:
889:
887:
884:
882:
879:
877:
874:
873:
871:
864:
858:
856:0-9622169-3-3
852:
848:
843:
842:
821:
817:
811:
795:
791:
785:
769:
765:
759:
750:
741:
739:
729:
720:
718:
708:
699:
697:
695:
685:
676:
674:
672:
662:
658:
647:
643:
639:
636:
632:
628:
624:
620:
616:
613:
609:
605:
601:
597:
593:
590:
589:
588:
577:
573:
570:
566:
563:
560:
556:
552:
549:
546:
545:U.S. Route 85
542:
538:
534:
530:
526:
522:
519:
515:
512:
509:
505:
504:Morrison Road
502:
499:
495:
492:
489:
485:
481:
477:
473:
470:
467:
463:
458:
455:
452:
448:
447:Havana Street
443:
439:
436:
433:
429:
425:
422:
419:
415:
414:Evans Avenue,
412:
409:
406:
403:
400:
397:
393:
390:
387:
384:
380:
376:
375:
374:Colfax Avenue
371:
368:
364:
361:
358:
354:
353:New York City
350:
347:
344:
343:Commerce City
340:
339:Brighton Road
336:
332:
328:
325:
321:
318:is named for
317:
314:
311:
307:
303:
299:
295:
291:
288:
287:
281:
279:
278:
277:local streets
273:
272:
267:
266:
261:
251:
249:
245:
240:
231:
228:
222:
213:
210:
205:
201:
197:
194:
190:
187:
182:
180:
176:
175:Colfax Avenue
165:
163:
162:Colfax Avenue
159:
154:
151:
141:
139:
138:William McGaa
135:
130:
128:
124:
120:
116:
112:
108:
98:
96:
92:
83:
74:
72:
68:
63:
61:
57:
53:
49:
45:
41:
37:
33:
25:
24:Colfax Avenue
21:
896:Street names
863:
846:
824:. Retrieved
819:
810:
798:. Retrieved
793:
784:
774:December 12,
772:. Retrieved
768:the original
758:
749:
728:
707:
684:
661:
586:
571:
564:
550:
520:
513:
503:
493:
487:
471:
461:
456:
446:
437:
423:
413:
407:
401:
396:CO Highway 2
391:
372:
362:
348:
338:
324:Adams County
315:
310:Cherry Creek
306:Cherry Creek
289:
275:
269:
263:
257:
239:Street names
237:
223:
219:
206:
202:
198:
193:street names
183:
171:
155:
147:
131:
123:Cherry Creek
104:
88:
64:
29:
535:leading to
209:Five Points
179:city blocks
65:Some major
56:city blocks
44:Five Points
870:Categories
839:References
529:New Mexico
432:Broomfield
418:John Evans
248:bookkeeper
158:John Evans
826:21 August
559:Littleton
428:Littleton
265:Arterials
189:emergence
186:bottom-up
115:Europeans
60:Addresses
48:grid plan
800:20 April
644:and the
583:Highways
555:Lakewood
537:Missouri
525:Santa Fe
508:Morrison
357:Broadway
349:Broadway
320:Brighton
539:. From
517:Street.
480:Clayton
379:Indiana
111:Auraria
107:platted
77:History
853:
627:US 285
610:, and
541:CO 470
442:US 285
302:Aurora
260:zoning
191:, and
136:, and
653:Notes
642:E-470
635:SH 58
631:C-470
619:US 36
612:I-225
608:I-270
568:city.
851:ISBN
828:2018
802:2022
776:2013
623:US 6
604:I-76
600:I-70
596:I-25
482:and
327:seat
40:LoDo
355:'s
300:in
296:to
872::
818:.
792:.
737:^
716:^
693:^
670:^
633:,
629:,
625:,
621:,
606:,
602:,
598:,
594::
527:,
164:.
38:,
859:.
830:.
804:.
778:.
648:.
637:.
614:.
547:.
500:.
490:.
468:.
434:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
