Baker

Baker is in central Denver, about a mile south of Civic Center. West 6th Avenue is the north edge and West Mississippi Avenue the south, with Broadway on the east and the South Platte River on the west. Speer is across Broadway north of Alameda, Valverde and Athmar Park are across the river, and La Alma/Lincoln Park starts on the far side of 6th.

Gold diggings, then a grid of brick

In the summer of 1857, John Smith's party took placer gold out of the Platte here, at a spot that became known as the Mexican Diggings. William Byers and his partners later platted more than half of what's now Baker. The first subdivision went in along Santa Fe Drive in 1872, the blocks north of Alameda joined Denver in 1883, and more than 80 percent of the neighborhood was built by 1900. It was called South Side until the 1970s, when the city renamed it for Baker Junior High.

Brick Queen Annes on narrow lots

The Baker Historic District covers about 30 blocks in the northeast corner, roughly West 5th Avenue to Alameda and Broadway to Fox Street. Most houses are one or two stories of brick with wood trim. The Queen Annes have forward-facing gables, fish-scale shingles, carved bargeboards and arched windows. Denver Squares, bungalows and a few Italianate rowhouses fill in between them.

The lots are narrow, with the yard behind the house. Front yards are shallow, and wide sandstone sidewalks sit behind tree lawns. Driveways are rare and some blocks have no alley, so ask where you would park before you fall for a house.

Denver designated the district in 2000. Windows, doors, a roof, solar panels, a garage, an ADU or an addition all go through landmark design review before the city issues a permit, so plan on extra time for any exterior project. If you would rather skip that, look outside the district. Baker added 1,228 housing units between 2010 and 2020, mostly apartments, and six large complexes now line South Cherokee Street near the Alameda station.

Broadway: a movie palace, a music club and ice cream

Broadway forms Baker's east edge. The Mayan, at 110 Broadway, opened in 1930 in Art Deco with Mayan motifs. Its owner pulled a demolition permit in the 1980s before preservationists stepped in, and Landmark Theatres has run it as a three-screen art-house cinema since 1986. Nearby, the hi-dive at 7 South Broadway gives local bands a place to start and took Westword's 2026 Best Divey Venue. Sweet Action, at 52 Broadway, has been scooping since 2009 and made Westword's 2025 list of the best ice cream shops in Denver. Farther south, the Mobells bought the Blue Bonnet in 1968 and moved it to 457 South Broadway in 1994. People go for the margaritas, the homemade chips and the chiles rellenos.

Parks

Dailey Park, 2.66 acres at West Ellsworth and South Cherokee, is the largest park among the residential blocks, and Hector M. Flores Park at West 4th and Galapago is smaller. If you want a big lawn, plan on going elsewhere for it.

Light rail at Alameda

Alameda station, at 425 South Cherokee and three blocks west of Broadway, has the C, E and T lines right now, plus buses 3, 4 and 52. The H and L lines are suspended during RTD's downtown rail rebuild. RTD plans to bring the L Line back through Alameda when the rebuild ends in 2027 and hasn't announced a return date for the H. The station's parking lot was redeveloped, so walk or bike there. The next stop south is I-25 and Broadway.

Stadiums at both ends

South of I-25, Denver Summit FC broke ground in 2026 on a women's soccer stadium at Santa Fe Yards, the old Gates Rubber site, with an opening planned for 2028. The big-box center south of Alameda is being rebuilt as Broadway Park, and three apartment projects were finished there by 2025. To the north, the Broncos plan a stadium at Burnham Yard, two blocks past 6th Avenue. Approvals are still pending, and the redevelopment around it reaches south of 6th into Baker. If you are looking near either end, expect years of construction and game-day traffic.