History of Denver

Federal Growth After the War

After World War II, Denver’s leaders continued working to attract business, and specialized industries became part of the city’s economy. Facilities used during the war stayed active or were adapted for new roles, including the Denver Ordnance Plant, which became the Denver Federal Center. Federal agencies also expanded in the area, adding offices for the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The military and federal presence helped draw aerospace companies to Denver. IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, Ball Aerospace, and Lockheed-Martin brought jobs and investment, and these employers began to influence civic life. From 1953 to 1989, the Rocky Flats Plant, a Department of Energy nuclear weapons facility formerly about 15 miles from Denver, produced fissile plutonium pits for nuclear warheads. A fire in 1957 and leakage from stored nuclear waste between 1958 and 1968 contaminated parts of Denver to varying degrees with plutonium-239, and studies linked the contamination to higher rates of birth defects and cancer in central Denver and nearer Rocky Flats.

Housing, Suburbs, and Preservation

In 1947, J. Quigg Newton was elected mayor and began modernizing city government, expanding public housing, and creating one of the nation’s early civil rights commissions. Fair housing measures passed in Colorado allowed Mexican-Americans, African-Americans, Japanese-Americans, and Jews to move into neighborhoods where they had previously been excluded, though discrimination continued.

Many soldiers who passed through Denver during the war later made the city their home, and the population grew quickly. Older buildings were removed for apartments and parking lots through the Denver Urban Renewal Authority. By 1950, middle-class families were moving away from downtown in search of larger homes and schools, and suburbs multiplied. In the 1960s, Victorian houses were often targeted for demolition, which led Denver residents to form the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission and Historic Denver, Inc.

Downtown Boom and Urban Strain

After World War II, oil and gas companies opened offices in Denver because the city was near the mountains and energy fields. During the 1970s energy crisis, higher oil and gas prices helped drive a downtown skyscraper boom. A second office core opened in the suburban Denver Tech Center, and many older downtown saloons and buildings were renovated.

Growth also brought traffic and pollution. Denver’s population stayed near 490,000 from 1960 to 1980, while the city’s land area grew by 40 square miles and many new residents settled in suburbs. Denver Tramway eventually dissolved after years of aging equipment, low revenue, and low ridership, and the Regional Transportation District took over public transportation in 1974. During this period, air pollution from cars and population growth created the “brown cloud” over the Front Range, which remained a concern for more than two decades.

Recession and Public Investment

Oil prices fell from more than $30 a barrel during the 1979 energy crisis to under $10 a barrel by the mid-1980s. Thousands of oil and gas workers lost jobs, unemployment rose, office vacancy reached 30 percent, housing prices fell, and the city’s population dropped to 467,610 by 1990.

Federico Peña became Denver’s first Latino mayor in 1983. During his administration, voters approved funding for a new airport, the Colorado Convention Center, infrastructure bonds, Denver Public Schools bonds, and a sales tax for a new baseball stadium for the Colorado Rockies. A Scientific and Cultural Facilities District was also created to help fund artistic, cultural, and scientific organizations in the metropolitan area.

Airport, Transit, and Recent Development

The Colorado General Assembly brokered a deal to annex land from Adams County to Denver County, adding 53 square miles to the city. Denver International Airport opened two years late and closed a highly publicized automated baggage system, but it contributed significantly to the regional economy.

Wellington Webb was elected Denver’s first Black mayor in 1991 and promoted downtown economic development, the new airport, Coors Field, and a new convention center.

Through the late 1990s, Denver’s economy was concentrated in energy, government and the military, technology, and agriculture. Over the next decade, Colorado added core industries that included health care, financial services, and tourism. Denver felt the 2008–2010 recession quickly because its tax base relied mostly on sales and income taxes, and it also recovered more quickly. John Hickenlooper was elected mayor in 2003 and re-elected in 2007; after he became governor of Colorado in 2011, Michael Hancock was elected Denver’s second African American mayor.