Bøger af James Bretz

The city of Denver was born out of a small mining camp established in the late 1850s. The lure of gold brought countless men and their families to the foot of the great Rocky Mountains, where the Platte River and Cherry Creek flow together. Along with the miners came the merchants--wagon makers, horse traders, blacksmiths, and clothiers. By 1900, Denver was a thriving community and had greatly expanded with the establishment of hardware stores, saloons, liveries, theaters, restaurants, and residential neighborhoods. Postcards did not come into general use until well after Denver was settled. The images herein range from about 1900 to 1925.

In James Bretz's Mansions of Denver, the charm and history of Denver's architectural past is carefully and beautifully drawn. His book provides readers with insight into the city's youth. But it is also a lament - an homage to a time when architectural originality prevailed.

In spite of its relentless reputation as a "cow town," Denver has grown from a dusty prairie burg into a thriving metropolis nestled against the foothills of the great Rocky Mountains. Gold brought the area's first settlers in the 1850s, and mining camps sprouted up along the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River. The first rudimentary structures of canvas, mud, and logs were soon replaced with sturdy buildings made of brick, stone, and wood, in what is now affectionately referred to as "Lodo" or the lower downtown district. City growth worked its way uptown and to the east from this neighborhood of houses, hotels, shops, and commercial buildings, eventually encompassing Capitol Hill. Many well-known people worked and lived in downtown Denver and Capitol Hill, including the infamous Margaret "Molly" Brown of Titanic fame, railroad man David Moffat, merchant prince Charles Boettcher, druggist-turned-entrepreneur Walter Scott Cheesman, and Denver's notorious lovers, Horace Tabor and his wife "Baby Doe."