Setting and Name
Five Points is located northeast of Downtown Denver’s central business district. A small part of the neighborhood curves around Coors Field and includes Union Station North, formerly known as Prospect.
The name comes from the meeting point of 26th Avenue, 27th Street, Washington Street, and Welton Street, where the streetcar stop was shortened to Five Points. The area also includes places such as RiNo, Union Station North, Clement, Old San Rafael, Curtis Park, Arapahoe Square, and Ballpark within the larger neighborhood boundaries.
Growth and Neighborhood Character
Five Points is one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods and has seen redevelopment and population growth. Much of that activity is in the River North Arts District, known as RiNo, which many locals treat as a separate neighborhood even though it is officially within Five Points and parts of Globeville and Elyria-Swansea.
The neighborhood has long had a varied economic mix, reflected in its housing. Mansions were built near row homes, and some wealthier residents began leaving in the late 19th century for Capitol Hill.
African-American History
From the 1860s through the 1950s, Five Points became historically prominent and was home to mayors, governors, business leaders, and middle-class laborers. In the first half of the 20th century, as African-American residents settled in Denver, the area became known as the “Harlem of the West. Discriminatory housing practices in other parts of the city helped shape its development as a predominantly African-American neighborhood.
Many African Americans came to Denver during the Great Migration, and some first worked for the railroad, which had a terminus in the area. In 2002, Five Points was designated a cultural historic district for its role in the city’s African-American history.
Welton Street and Jazz
From the 1920s to the 1950s, the Welton Corridor supported businesses including restaurants, barbers, drug stores, tailors, real estate companies, and other services. Churches were also established in the community.
Welton Street had more than fifty bars and clubs, where musicians including Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, Count Basie, and Dizzy Gillespie performed. Black performers who were barred from other Denver hotels stayed at the Rossonian Hotel, built in 1912, and also performed there.
Historic Sites and Community Events
African-American history is presented at the Black American West Museum and Heritage Center and the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library. Temple Emanuel, a former synagogue, stands at 24th and Curtis Street, and Agape Church at 25th Street and California Street was once a Japanese Methodist church.
Denver’s Juneteenth festival includes a parade from Manual High School to Welton Street, with vendors and street performers. The Five Points Jazz Festival was held in the neighborhood from 2003 to 2024, when Denver announced it would be replaced by the Five Points Jazz Activation Fund for jazz performances and education year-round.