Cheesman Park

Cheesman Park is the stretch of central Denver between Downing Street and York Street, from Colfax Avenue south to 8th Avenue. The park takes up a big share of it, running from Humboldt Street east to Race Street and the Botanic Gardens, and from 13th Avenue down to 8th. The first plats date to 1868, and Denver annexed the area in 1883.

The cemetery under the lawn

Before it was a park, this hill was Mount Prospect Cemetery, opened in 1858 on 160 acres. Forty of those acres became Mount Calvary, a Catholic burial ground, in 1865, and the rest was renamed Denver City Cemetery in 1873. Congress let the city turn it into a park in 1890, and for a while it was called Congress Park.

Clearing it went badly. In 1893 an undertaker named E. P. McGovern started moving the graves, about 5,000 of them. The work was mishandled and he was let go before he finished. Not every grave was moved, and human remains turned up again in 2008 while the Botanic Gardens built a parking structure. Walter Cheesman's widow and children later gave the city $100,000 for a pavilion, and the park took his name.

Towers, apartments and a few mansions

By 1915 the blocks around the park were mostly big mansions. Apartments have been the main story here since the 1930s, and the skyline now is high-rise and mid-rise condo and apartment buildings, with older houses tucked in between. Condos and apartments fill much of the area, so a condo is the likelier purchase and a detached house is the exception. Expect HOA dues on top of the mortgage.

Three historic districts hold a lot of the older houses: Wyman's, Morgan's Addition and Humboldt Island. Humboldt Island, just west of the park, is 24 large houses built between 1895 and 1920. Some are plain Foursquares, others are more dressed up in Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival and Renaissance Revival styles.

If you buy in any of the three districts, exterior work that needs a permit goes through the city's Landmark Preservation review first. That covers new windows and doors, roofing, solar panels, additions, garages, ADUs and basement egress windows, which adds time and design constraints to any project, so build that into your timeline.

The park and its pavilion

Reinhard Schuetze designed the park around a central lawn on rolling ground, ringed by trees and loops of old carriage drive, with the layout meant to take advantage of the mountain views to the west. Franklin Street, on the northwest edge, has a double row of lindens. There are about 1,880 trees in the park, from 57 species.

The neoclassical pavilion, built of Colorado Yule marble, sits up on a knoll on the east side, with three pools, two big stairways and a terraced lawn stepping down toward the open grass. The park went on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as part of Denver's park and parkway system.

Change is coming to one corner. The city is renovating the playground, adding a picnic site and a scooter and bike loop, and improving the walking path between the pavilion and the Botanic Gardens. Construction is scheduled to run from fall 2026 into winter 2027.

Colfax and 13th Avenue

Pete's Kitchen, at 1962 E. Colfax, is a Denver late-night staple that's also known for breakfast, with burgers, gyros and souvlaki sandwiches served all day. Over on 13th, Liks Ice Cream has been scooping out of its red-brick shop at 2039 E. 13th Ave. since 1976, and it made 5280's 2026 list of Denver's best ice cream.

Getting around

Colfax runs along the north edge. Starting September 27, 2026, its two center lanes from Broadway to Colorado Boulevard are bus-only. RTD's 15 and 15L board from center platforms there, and the new Lynx bus rapid transit line is under construction through 2027. If you drive Colfax to work, count on the outer lanes only.