Five Points

Five Points starts where downtown's office towers stop, on the northeast side. Roughly, it runs from the South Platte River east to Downing Street, and from 38th Street down to Park Avenue, East 20th Avenue and 20th Street. That takes in Curtis Park, the Ballpark blocks near Coors Field, Arapahoe Square and RiNo. The name belongs to one corner, where Welton Street, Washington Street, 27th Street and East 26th Avenue all meet.

How a streetcar sign named the place

Curtis Park became Denver's first public park in 1868, and three years later a horse-drawn streetcar line connected the area to downtown. The Five Points name came in 1881, when the streetcar signs had no room to list every street at the end of the line.

From the 1920s into the 1950s, Welton Street was Denver's jazz corridor, with more than fifty bars and clubs. Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Count Basie all played here. The Rossonian, a 1912 hotel at the five-way corner, put up touring musicians that other Denver hotels turned away. It still stands at 2642 Welton, and plans to renovate it were approved in 2024.

Victorians on Curtis, Champa and Stout

The Curtis Park blocks hold more than 500 historic homes. The oldest still standing dates to 1876, and most went up between 1885 and 1890: Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Eastlake, Romanesque and Carpenter Gothic, mostly masonry with some wood frame. What you notice on a drive is the range on a single block, with small and large rowhouses, big single-family houses and little cottages side by side.

Toward the ballpark the landmarks are commercial, like the 1891 Burlington Hotel at 22nd and Larimer. Newer multifamily buildings fill in across the neighborhood, so a condo or townhome here comes with monthly HOA dues on top of the payment.

Historic districts and what they mean for a remodel

Curtis Park alone has eight local historic districts, labeled A through H and designated between 1995 and 2011. The Ballpark Neighborhood Historic District came in 2002, as did the Five Points Historic Cultural District along Welton Street, which has its own design standards. In all of them, exterior work that needs a building or zoning permit goes through the city's Landmark Preservation review. That covers additions, new windows and doors, roofing, fences, garages and ADUs. If you're eyeing a Victorian and picturing an addition or a new garage, budget extra months and design fees before you commit.

Mestizo-Curtis Park and Sonny Lawson Park

Mestizo-Curtis Park covers nine acres around Curtis Street and 31st, with cottonwoods planted in 1874, a 1936 pool and red sandstone walks finished by 1935 from a modified Olmsted Brothers plan. Sonny Lawson Park, at Park Avenue West and Welton, has a ball field and exercise equipment. At 2401 Welton, the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library has been a Denver Public Library branch since 2003, with a museum on its third floor.

Fried chicken on Welton, a food hall on Larimer

The Dickerson family has run Welton Street Cafe since 1986, and it's known for fried chicken, catfish, smothered pork chops and Caribbean plates. It reopened at 2883 Welton in November 2024 with double the seats and a full bar, and it's open Wednesday through Sunday. Mimosas, at 2752 Welton, is a brunch spot people travel to Five Points for. Over on Larimer, Denver Central Market fills a 1920s curio company building at 2669 Larimer and was Westword's Best Food Hall in 2020.

The L Line and what comes next on Welton

Light rail has run down Welton Street since 1994. Today that's the L Line, which starts at 30th and Downing and loops through downtown. It was suspended in summer 2026 during RTD's downtown rail rebuild, and RTD says it comes back when the rebuild finishes in 2027, running from 30th and Downing to I-25 and Broadway. Longer term, the city and RTD are weighing rebuilt tracks, buses or replica trolleys, or moving transit to another street, with a plan expected in spring 2027. If the train is part of why you'd buy near Welton, follow that study before you make an offer. Up at 38th and Blake, the A Line station opened in 2016 and runs to Union Station and the airport.