Cory-Merrill

Cory-Merrill sits in south-central Denver, bounded by Mississippi Avenue on the north, Colorado Boulevard on the east, I-25 on the south and University Boulevard on the west. Washington Park is a short trip west, and Virginia Village is across Colorado Boulevard.

A dry town first, then a postwar build-out

This ground was part of the Town of South Denver, incorporated in 1886 and stretching from Alameda Avenue to Yale Avenue, west of Colorado Boulevard. The town was founded alcohol-free, and that rule outlived it. Voters agreed to join Denver in 1894, after the Silver Panic of 1893 and a run-down water system left the town in debt.

Most of the houses came later. After World War II, builder Les Tremblay put up small single-story houses for returning soldiers, and that era still sets the rhythm of the streets.

Tremblay ranches and what replaced them

There are about 1,839 detached houses in the neighborhood, and 46 percent of them were built between 1940 and 1959. Only 13 percent are older than that. Another 29 percent went up in 2000 or later, many of them where small postwar houses came down. The median house is about 1,540 square feet.

So the blocks mix remaining bungalows and brick ranches with tall contemporary houses. The new ones run big. A new house listed at 1476 S. Josephine Street in 2025 has five bedrooms, 4,900 square feet and a three-car garage.

If you buy one of the original ranches, expect that a much larger house could replace its neighbor at some point. Look at the lots on either side as well as the one you're buying.

Two landmarks on Steele Street

The former St. Thomas Seminary, at 1300 S. Steele Street, is a 40-acre campus whose first building went up in 1908. Its later buildings, designed by Jules J.B. Benedict in the Mediterranean Revival style, are grouped around a quadrangle, with a tower between the main building and Christ the King Chapel. The campus went on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The Archdiocese of Denver bought it in 1995, moved its offices there, and opened St. John Vianney Theological Seminary on the grounds in 1999.

A few blocks south, at 1550 S. Steele, Cory Elementary was architect Victor Hornbein's first public building. He was hired to design it in 1951, and it went on to win many modern architecture awards.

Colorado Boulevard for dinner and errands

The east edge is where the shopping is, in centers along Colorado Boulevard. The Bronze Empire, at 1591 S. Colorado, is a Chinese hot pot restaurant open nightly from 4 p.m., where diners cook fresh ingredients in a simmering pot of broth at the table. A block south, Runners Roost at 1685 S. Colorado is the Denver store of a Colorado running chain that dates to 1977, and its free run club heads out from the shop Wednesdays at 6 p.m.

Getting around

I-25 forms the south edge, so the highway is close from most of the neighborhood. A stretch of University Boulevard that runs through Cory-Merrill, from Iowa Avenue to Alameda Avenue, was listed on the National Register in 1986.

For light rail, Colorado station is at the Colorado Center by I-25, with E and T Line service and a 363-space park-and-ride. If you plan to commute by train, that's the station to know.