Five Points, Denver facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Five Points
Neighborhood
Light rail station at Five Points Plaza on Welton Street
Country	United States of America
State	Colorado
City	Denver
Area
• Total	1.5 sq mi (4 km2)
Elevation	5,226 ft (1,593 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	17,520
• Density	11,680/sq mi (4,510/km2)
ZIP Codes	80205, 80216

Five Points is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Denver, Colorado. It is now one of the fastest growing in terms of both redevelopment and population. Much of this growth is taking place in the River North Arts District, or "RiNo", which is often considered by locals a neighborhood of its own; although it is officially within the Five Points neighborhood in addition to parts of neighboring Globeville and Elyria-Swansea.

Geography

Five Points is on the northeast side of Downtown Denver's central business district. A small portion wraps around Coors Field and encompasses the Union Station North neighborhood (formerly Prospect). This is where the downtown street grid meets the neighborhood street grid of the first Denver suburbs. The five points in the district's name refer to the vertices formed where four streets meet: 26th Avenue, 27th Street, Washington Street, and Welton Street. Five Points was the shortened name for the street car stop at this intersection.

History

Five Points came to historical prominence from the 1860s through the 1950s. The neighborhood was home to Denver's aristocracy, housing mayors, governors, and prominent business people as well as middle class laborers. Rino, Prospect, Clement, Old San Rafael, Curtis Park, Arapahoe Square, and Ballpark neighborhoods are in the larger Five Points neighborhood.

Five Points was known as the "Harlem of the West". It became a predominantly African American neighborhood in Denver because discriminatory home sale laws in other neighborhoods forbade black people from settling in them. From the 1920s to the 1950s the community thrived with a rich mix of business and commerce along the Welton Corridor offering the neighborhood butcher, real estate companies, drug stores, religious organizations, tailors, restaurants, barbers and many other main street services. Welton Street was also home to over fifty bars and clubs, where jazz musicians such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and others performed. Black performers that other hotels in Denver would not accommodate stayed at the Rossonian Hotel, built in 1912, and performed there, making it a famous music venue.

Five Points district c. 1885

The Five Points community suffered from the late 1950s through the late 1990s because of drugs, crime, and urban flight. Many properties were abandoned, the local economy became somewhat irrelevant and the larger market found local business conditions unappealing. Attempts at redevelopment were made but there were many hindrances to reinvestment. The district became a no-man's land in need of a larger vision and a new generation of leadership.

Five Points has always been a neighborhood with a diverse economic mix of residents, evidenced by the variety of houses there. Mansions were built next to row homes. Many of the rich began moving out of Five Points in the late 19th century to live in the more popular Capitol Hill neighborhood. Five Points was also home to a large Jewish population and is still home to a former synagogue, Temple Emanuel, on the corner of 24th Street and Curtis Street. After World War II, many Japanese-Americans lived in Five Points. Agape Church on the corner of 25th Street and California Street was once a Japanese Methodist church.

Demographics

Location of Five Points in Denver

At one period, when segregation was the law, an area centered around the Welton Corridor had an African American-majority population. But according to the Census, years of demographic change have brought about a majority white population (77 percent), a large Latino population (19 percent), with the black population at a lower minority (14 percent). In 2002 Five Points was designated as a cultural historic district, in recognition of its important role in African-American history in the city.

Economy

In 2002, the Denver Housing Authority acquired a 100-year-old horse barn in the Curtis Park neighborhood near Five Points. Developer Andrew Romanoff was in charge of a renovation in 2012 to adapt the building for use as office space, to be leased to small businesses. It has since opened.

Attempts to rebuild a strong business economy on Welton Street began in 2009 with the formation of the Five Points Business District. The Five Points Business District has since ceased operations and funding was directed to a business improvement district. The Rossonian Hotel, originally The Baxter, at 2642 Welton Street is undergoing renovations. The Rossonian was managed by A. H. W. Ross who also owned the White Elephants baseball team.

Arts and culture

Juneteenth

Denver's Juneteenth festival draws thousands of people every year. A parade starts at Manual High School and goes down to Welton Street. Vendors sell merchandise and street performers entertain the crowd. The Five Points Jazz Festival takes place every May and celebrates the jazz history of the neighborhood. Stages are set up along Welton street, both inside the various music venues and on the street itself.

Five Points Jazz Festival

Presented by Denver Arts & Venues, the Five Points Jazz Festival is a free, all-day event held annually in Denver’s historic Five Points neighborhood. Once known as the Harlem of the West, Five Points was home to several jazz clubs which played host to many of jazz music's legends, including Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and many more!

From its humble first year which featured one stage and only three bands, the festival has grown into an all-day event with almost 50 bands, 10 stages and performance spaces and 100,000 visitors. In 2020, Denver Arts & Venues collaborated with Rocky Mountain PBS and KUVO to broadcast a virtual event that garnered two Colorado Broadcasters Association awards and a Heartland Emmy® nomination.

Transportation

Five Points is well serviced by both bus and light rail. In the early 1990s, Denver's first light rail system connected the downtown business district to Five Points. A new transit stop was constructed at 38th and Blake in 2016 as part of the A Line. Nowadays Five Points is primarily served by the L Line, which was created by reworking parts of the already existing D Line. One of the few remaining sections of Denver metro's RTD's FasTracks expansion plan is the final 0.8 miles of the L line. This section would connect the L line to the A line at the 38th & Blake station and include two new stations at 33rd and Downing and 35th and Downing.