Denver's High Schools, Then and Now

Here's another posting reflecting my penchant for depicting historical buildings and sights in Colorado, both then when they were "new" and now as they appear today after whatever number of years of progress.

Today's theme is the four major high school buildings built by the City of Denver in the early 1900s or so. Their common theme was to build something that would "last one hundred years" and that would add to the "City Beautiful" motif espoused by the city fathers of the time period. I also threw in some statuary found near one of the high schools since I managed to find historical photos of the same that I thought interesting.

We start with Denver's South High School. Its cornerstone was laid on October 31st, 1924 and cost $1,252,000 to build. (Try using that budget today to build something similar!) South High School is home to the Rebels.

South Denver H.S. 2009
For a photo of this school, Circa 1925-26
go to DPL: Call# MCC-3692

South Denver H.S. 2009
For a photo of the Back facade South Denver High School Circa 1926
go to DPL: Call#MCC-2863

I next rode on to Denver's West High School located across from the Sunken Gardens on Speer Boulevard. This school started operations in January of 1926 and is the home of the Cowboys.

Postcard Circa 1915-1935
Courtesy: Genealogybug.net

West Denver H.S. 2009
For a photo of West Denver High School Circa 1926
go to DPL: Call# MCC-2975

Next stop was Denver's North High School, which opened for learning on September of 1911. This is the home of the Vikings.

North Denver HS Circa 1915-1930
Courtesy: Genealogybug.net

North Denver H.S. 2009
For a photo North Denver High School Circa 1911-1930
go to DPL: Call# X-28535

Denver's East High School was the last stop and proved to be the most scenic. I had some difficulty finding this huge structure due to having programmed my GPS with the wrong address. A call to neighborhood friends, a search on Google, and I had the right directions. Costing $1,470,000 to build, this school opened its doors in 1925 and is the home of the Angels.

East Denver H.S. 2009
For a photo of the Sullivan Gate and East Denver High School Circa 1930-1940
go to DPL: Call# X28382

East Denver High School 2009
For a photo of East Denver HS Circa 1925-26
go to DPL: Call# MCC-2861

East High School is located next to the Dennis Sullivan Gateway through which the City Park Esplanade runs. It honors Dennis Sullivan, another banker of note apparently, and was built in 1917. The gateways sports two pillars atop of which statues depicting Mining and Agriculture are mounted.

Agriculture

For a photo of Leo Lentelli as he sculpts 'Agriculture,' part of the Sullivan Memorial Gateway Circa 1916-1917
go to DPL: Call# X-27246

Mining

To the North of East Denver High School is Denver's City Park. I had spied the statue and fountain below from the high school's grounds and went to get a closer look:

Thatcher Memorial Fountain

From DPL sources:

It was given as a gift to the city of Denver in 1918 by Joseph Addison Thatcher. In the center of the fountain is a 18 foot tall bronze female figure which represents the state of Colorado, three bronze groups that surround her represent "Loyalty", "Learning" and "Love". The artist was Loredo Taft and it cost $100,000 to build. Mr. Thatcher was a member of the Association/Denver National Bank. Member of the original Board of Directors and the bank's first president.

I rode home via Colfax Avenue and cruised down to Gun Club Road and my home neighborhoods as the clouds started rolling in from the west. Some pretty stiff winds were encountered as well, perhaps we'll have some good thunder and lighting storms later this afternoon.

I hope you enjoyed this short tour of the high schools of Denver. Impressive buildings with striking architectural styles. I'm a little curious as to how they've held up on the inside, any graduates of these schools read this blog? Your comments would be most welcome.