The region along the Cache la Poudre River was greatly influenced by concrete and cement manufacturing since many of the materials used to produce both concrete and cement came from sites near the river. Gravel quarries near the river banks supplied rock for concrete, but gaping holes were also made.
Cement, the binding agent that binds together the mixture of rock and sand in concrete, was produced two miles north of the river at the Perfect Cement factory. Water from the Cache la Poudre River was used by concrete producers to generate concrete so it could be poured.
Today, concrete paves roads and trails that parallel or cross the river, and water up and out of the Cache la Poudre River is pushed by dams and drainage systems made of concrete.
This multiple submission of properties provides a historical background for assessing the importance of historical resources related to the commercial growth of the Central Business District of Denver during the 1880-1973 periods.
In the city, the oldest known historic building dates back to 1880. The historical background spans from that year to 1973, when a new period of growth culminated in events affecting the local economy.
The city of Denver, the capital and largest city of Colorado, is located at its confluence with Cherry Creek on the South Platte River, about twelve miles east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
In 1858, the search for gold brought the area’s first permanent settlement: Auraria was established on the west side of Cherry Creek, Denver City was founded on the east and the bluffs to the north and the townsite of Highland was built. In April 1860, the communities were unified and the name that honored Kansas Territorial Governor James Denver was chosen.
Denver, officially incorporated in 1861, became Arapahoe County’s county seat in the same year and the territory’s capital in 1867. In 1870, Denver’s continued regional supremacy was assured by the connection of the city to a transcontinental railroad and it became the state capital in 1876.
A significant period of development, during which the city became an agricultural supply hub and a concentration of industrial, manufacturing, and financial activity for the Rocky Mountain region, was fuelled by the wealth extracted from Colorado mines.
Denver was founded as a city and county by a 1902 constitutional amendment.
With the growth of tourism, development of the service sector, utilization of energy resources, and the attraction of multiple federal agency offices, Denver’s economic base grew during the twentieth century. Several historically and architecturally important buildings in Downtown Denver were erected as a major regional center.
Ideal Cement
Charles Boettcher, a Denver businessman, founded a cement plant near Laporte in 1927. The Ideal Cement Plant sat along the Larimer County Canal just south of Curtis Lake and mined limestone to construct its product from quarries north of the plant.
