Union Station North

Originally an area of Denver known as, "The Bottoms", "Prospect", or "Prospect Park", Union Station North is one of the oldest parts of Denver.{{cite web |last1=Noel |first1=Thomas J. |title=LoDo (Lower Downtown Denver) |url=https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/lodo-lower-downtown-denver |website=Colorado Encyclopedia |date=15 April 2015 |access-date=10 June 2021}} The name, Prospect, originated from the adjacent, "Prospect Junction" railyard located partially within and immediately to the north of Union Station North.{{cite web |last1=Armstrong |first1=Jack |title=Union Station North 007.jpg |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Union_Station_North_007.jpg |website=Wikimedia Commons |date=January 2011 |access-date=20 June 2021}}

In July 2016, the official name of the neighborhood was changed from "Prospect" to "Union Station North".

File:UnionStationNorth006.jpg

Union Station North sits on land that originally belonged to the Arapaho Tribe.{{cite web |last1=d'Elgin |first1=Tershia |title=South Platte River |url=https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river |website=coloradoencyclopedia.org |date=22 February 2017 |access-date=19 June 2021}} They named the South Platte River, which flows along Union Station North, Niinéniiniicíihéhe. The discovery of gold in Denver in 1858 resulted in a large increase of white settlers to the area and the native population was pushed out.{{cite web |title=Indigenous Tribes of Colorado |url=https://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/denver-colorado-tribes |website=ala.org |date=21 November 2017 |publisher=American Library Association |access-date=19 June 2021}} From the city's founding and continuing through the 1970s, the South Platte River was essentially treated as an open sewer.{{cite web |title=A Short History of Denver and the South Platte River |url=http://web.mit.edu/nature/archive/student_projects/2009/tgoff/History.html |website=web.mit.edu |access-date=19 June 2021}}{{cite web |title=Case study: South Platte River, Denver, Colorado, USA |url=https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/wp.wpi.edu/dist/f/266/files/2012/01/Case-Studies-Overview.pdf |website=cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/wp.wpi.edu |access-date=21 June 2021}}

By the 1960s, Union Station North contained immigrant housing, vacant lots, railroad tracks, and industrial plants dumping discharge into the South Platte River. Along the river's banks could be found landfills, discarded cars, weeds, old tires, waste, feathers from a pillow factory, and hobo camps. The area was considered an undesirable place to live.{{cite web |last1=Simmons |first1=Thomas H. |last2=Simmons |first2=R. Laurie |last3=Anstey |first3=Mary Therese |title=Tops Down and Bottoms Up Intervention—The Great Depression, Federal Relief Programs, and World War II, 1930-45 |url=https://www.discoverdenver.co/sites/discoverdenver.co/files/document/pdf/Tops%20Down%20and%20Bottoms%20Up%20Intervention%201930-1945.pdf |website=discoverdenver.co |access-date=17 June 2021 |location=Section 5.2 |pages=2}}

In the 1990s and through the 2010s, redevelopment took place in the LoDo/Union Station/Riverfront Park/Confluence Park areas along with the building of Coors Field (1995) and the creation of Cuernavaca Park (2000). This redevelopment spread to the adjacent Union Station North neighborhood and residential buildings were planned and built.{{cite web |title=LoDo ~ Denver's Lower Downtown Success Story |url=https://history.denverlibrary.org/lodo-denvers-lower-downtown-success-story |website=Denver Public Library |date=29 October 2014 |access-date=10 June 2021}} In 2006, Denver developer Dana Crawford referred to Union Station North as, "a very industrial area" and Denver architect Jim Johnson added, "this is still the true-grit part of town".{{cite web |last1=Buchholz |first1=Jan |title=Kerouac Lofts attract eclectic mix |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2006/12/11/story3.html |website=bizjournals.com |access-date=17 June 2021}}

In 2019, the new commuter rail G Line added an additional set of tracks through the neighborhood in the guise of a bridge over both the South Platte River and BNSF rail lines in the Prospect Junction area.{{cite web |last1=Sachs |first1=David |title=With the G Line opening, RTD and transit riders will be partying like it's 2016 |url=https://denverite.com/2019/04/24/with-the-g-line-opening-rtd-and-transit-riders-will-be-partying-like-its-2016/ |website=denverite.com |access-date=23 June 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Armstrong |first1=Jack |title=Union Station North, South Platte Bridges |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Union_Station_North_003.jpg |website=commons.wikimedia.org |date=23 June 2021 |access-date=23 June 2021}}

Today, Union Station North is a small, clean, thriving, primarily residential community combined with daily passages of locomotives transiting in and out of the Denver area.

File:Union_Station_North_002.jpg

Union Station North is located on the north side of Downtown Denver and is wholly contained within the larger neighborhood of Five Points. It is bounded by the South Platte River to the north, Cuernavaca Park to the northwest, 20th Street to the southwest, Wewatta Street to the southeast and the Park Avenue West viaduct to the east. Union Station North is additionally surrounded by the Union Station/LoDo neighborhood to the southwest, Ballpark neighborhood to the southeast, River North Arts District ("RiNo") neighborhood to the east, and the Highland neighborhood to the north. Coors Field is adjacent to Union Station North, located on the south side of the community.

Some streets in the neighborhood, Chestnut Place, Wewatta Street, 20th Street, 21st Street and Delgany Street, follow the old Denver city grid laid down in the 1850s. The remaining streets follow the north/south configuration system of 1864 which was designed in order to comply with federal government mandates.{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Mike |title=A Tale of Two Grids: Confusion Aside, Diagonal Streets Distinguish Downtown Denver |url=https://www.confluence-denver.com/features/tale_of_two_grids_071515.aspx |website=Confluence-Denver.com |access-date=10 June 2021}}

The northern boundary of Union Station North follows the South Platte River, which has had a history of flooding in the past. Today, tall embankments run along both sides of the river which guard against infrequent, yet inevitable high water. Additionally, the walking/biking South Platte River Trail{{cite web |title=regional_trails_web.pdf |url=https://www.denvergov.org/content/dam/denvergov/Portals/747/documents/parks/trails/regional_trails_web.pdf |website=Denvergov.org |access-date=10 June 2021}} skirts along the river.{{cite web |last1=Prendergast |first1=Alan |title=South Platte Flood of 1965 |url=https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-flood-1965 |website=Colorado Encyclopedia |date=13 March 2020 |access-date=10 June 2021}}{{cite web |title=South platte river Globeville and north areas |url=https://www.casfm.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SouthPlatteRiver2009.pdf |website=casfm.org |access-date=10 June 2021}}

As of 2010, Union Station North had a population of 3077 residents. The neighborhood's average age is 41 and 47% of the population are homeowners.{{cite web |title=Prospect Park, Denver |url=https://nextdoor.com/neighborhood/prospectparkdenver--denver--co/ |website=Nextdoor.com |access-date=12 June 2021}}

File:Pedestrian bridge in Cuernavaca Park, Denver, Colorado 2010.jpgThe City of Cuernavaca Park is divided by the South Platte River, the southern section being located within the Union Station North neighborhood along with the Flour Mill Lofts. The South Platte River Commission recommended the park's construction in 1995 and it was completed in 2000.{{cite web |title=City of Cuernavaca Park |url=https://tclf.org/landscapes/city-cuernavaca-park |website=The Cultural Landscape Foundation |access-date=20 June 2021}} The creation of Cuernavaca Park reclaimed and repurposed land that had been an industrial wasteland for over a hundred years.{{cite web |last1=Fletcher |first1=Harrison |title=Building for the Future |url=https://www.westword.com/news/building-for-the-future-5058407 |website=Westword |access-date=21 June 2021 |date=5 March 1998}} Formerly in this area along the South Platte river were numerous mills discharging volumes of thick, black and gray soot into the sky, polluting the air and land of the downtown Denver area. Denver had the largest concentration of flour mills in the western United States. By 1975, as the area's industrial operations slowed, this part of Union Station North became a disused muddy stretch of the river filled with weeds and passing locomotives belching diesel smoke. In 1974, the Platte River Development Committee was created with goals that included recovering the South Platte River for boating enthusiasts, creating parks and linking the entire urban river area with concrete pedestrian/biking trails.{{cite web |title=Greenway Foundation History:1970s |url=https://www.thegreenwayfoundation.org/1970s.html |website=thegreenwayfoundation.org |access-date=21 June 2021}}{{cite web |title=Valley Highway EIS |url=https://www.codot.gov/library/studies/i-25-valley-highway-EIS/newchapter_4/feis_ch4sec9_waterresources.pdf |website=www.codot.gov |access-date=21 June 2021 |page=4.9-5}} Today, Cuernavaca Park contains large areas of grass, trees, covered picnic pavilions, a baseball diamond, paved trails on both sides of the river, tables, benches and toilet facilities. Rock sculptures are located immediately north of the Flour Mill Lofts.

The dominating feature of the park is the oval walking/biking path that offers two bridges for crossing the river. The bridges are reminiscent of nineteenth-century railroad trestle bridges keeping in character with the industrial-chic flavor of the area.

The Mexican City of Cuernavaca is one of Denver's sister cities.{{cite web |last1=Hughes |first1=Jessica |title=Denver's Sister Cities |url=https://www.uncovercolorado.com/denver-co-sister-cities/ |website=uncovercolorado.com |access-date=20 June 2021}}

File:Barrow's Goldeneye RWD5.jpg

The fauna of Union Station North is rich for a large downtown metropolitan area. Barn swallow, Barrow's Goldeneye, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Cliff Swallow, Ferruginous Hawk, Forster's Tern, green heron, Northern Rough-winged Swallow all make their homes along the South Platte River and can often be seen from the South Platte River Trail.{{cite web |title=Important Bird Areas, South Platte River Corridor |url=https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas/south-platte-river-corridor |website=audubon.org |date=12 September 2016 |access-date=10 June 2021}}

Image:Union_Station_North_007.jpg|View looking south from Prospect Junction towards Union Station North

Image:Union_Station_North_011.jpg|Skye Apartments (renamed Griffis Union Station)

Image:Union_Station_North_012.jpg|Amtrak building, west corner of Wewatta and 21st Street

Image:Union_Station_North_013.jpg|Union Station North looking west

Image:Union_Station_North_014.jpg|Corner of West 29th Avenue & Fox Street, looking northwest

Image:Union_Station_North_017.jpg|East side of Watertower Lofts

Image:Union_Station_North_021.jpg|3012 Huron Street

File:Prospect008.jpg|3012 Huron Street

Image:Union Station North, Denver, Colorado, Railroad.jpg|BNSF locomotives transiting Prospect Junction in Union Station North

Image:Union Station North 001.jpg|The Casey Apartments

Image:Union Station North 025.jpg|Public Storage Building

Image:Union Station North 003.jpg|South Platte Bridges. Top to bottom, G Line commuter rail, BNSF rail, pedestrian bridge linking pedestrian trails.

Image:Union Station North 004.jpg|Cuernavaca Park Bridge

Image:Union Station North 005.jpg|Flour Mill Lofts

Image:Union Station North 006.jpg|Jack Kerouac Lofts (left) and X Denver Apartments

Image:Union_Station_North_008.jpg|The Metro Apartments, building 1

Image:Union Station North 026.jpg|The Metro Apartments, building 2

Image:Union Station North 027.jpg|The Metro Apartments, building 3

Image:Union Station North 028.jpg|Shops & Restaurants

Image:Union Station North 029.jpg|Union Station North Sign

Image:Union Station North 030.jpg|Ajax Lofts

Image:Union Station North 032.jpg|Griffis North Union Apartments

File:Prospect002.jpg|Diamond at Prospect Apartments (right)

File:Prospect006.jpg|Diamond at Prospect Apartments

File:Prospect003.jpg|Inca 29 Brownstones

File:AAAAspecialties2021.jpg|3030 Huron Street

File:Prospect016.jpg|Entrance to Jack Kerouac Lofts

Image:Union Station North 031.jpg|2980 Huron Street was razed to make way for the 3000 Huron Street Project

Image:Union_Station_North_009.jpg|Small shop in a vacant lot which was removed to make way for Griffis North Union

Image:Union_Station_North_010.jpg|North end of Inca Street looking northeast. This building was demolished to make way for X Denver 1 & 2

Image:Union_Station_North_015.jpg|Empty lot prior to The Casey being built, looking northeast

Image:Union_Station_North_016.jpg|Empty warehouse just north of 2907 Huron Street. Later demolished for Griffis North Union.

Image:Union_Station_North_018.jpg|Empty lot Huron Street, later it was Griffis North Union

Image:Union_Station_North_019.jpg|Empty warehouse that used to stand just west of Jack Kerouac Lofts. Later demolished for X Denver

Image:Union_Station_North_020.jpg|Empty warehouse that used to stand just west of Jack Kerouac Lofts. Later demolished for X Denver

Image:Union_Station_North_022.jpg|Empty warehouse that used to stand just west of Jack Kerouac Lofts. Later demolished for X Denver

Image:Union_Station_North_023.jpg|Building that used to stand at 2907 Huron Street. On the left is the alley between Huron and Inca Streets.

Image:Union_Station_North_024.jpg|Old sign announcing entrance to Prospect Neighborhood; later named Union Station North

File:Prospect001.jpg|Empty warehouse just north of 2907 Huron Street. Later demolished for Griffis North Union.

File:Prospect004.jpg|Warehouse that no longer exists which stood just west of the Jack Kerouac Lofts

File:Prospect007.jpg|Rex Lounge, a dive bar that no longer exists. The Public Storage building stands there today.

File:Prospect009.jpg|Warehouse that no longer exists which stood just west of the Jack Kerouac Lofts

File:Prospect010.jpg|Warehouse that no longer exists which stood just west of the Jack Kerouac Lofts.

File:Prospect011.jpg|Empty warehouse just north of 2907 Huron Street. Later demolished for Griffis North Union.

File:Prospect012.jpg|Empty warehouse, 2985 Huron Street, looking west. Later demolished for Griffis North Union.

File:Prospect015.jpg|Empty warehouse, 2985 Huron Street, looking east. Later demolished for Griffis North Union.

File:Prospect013.jpg|Warehouse that no longer exists which stood just west of the Jack Kerouac Lofts.

File:Prospect014.jpg|Warehouse that no longer exists which stood just west of the Jack Kerouac Lofts.

Key

† = to be determined

{{refbegin}}

:A.{{Note|A}}Originally built as an industrial building in the 1920s and was later converted into a residential building in 2000.{{cite web |last1=Kindesign |first1=One |title=Historic flour mill converted to industrial style loft in Denver |url=https://onekindesign.com/2015/06/17/historic-flour-mill-converted-to-industrial-style-loft-in-denver/ |website=onekindesign.com |date=17 June 2015 |access-date=15 June 2021}}

:B.{{Note|B}}Originally built as an industrial building in 1894 and was later converted into a residential building in 2002.{{cite web |title=Watertower Lofts |url=https://riverfrontdenver.com/denver-buildings/watertower-lofts/ |website=riverfrontdenver.com |access-date=15 June 2021}}

{{refend}}

{{reflist|22em}}

{{commons category-inline|Union Station North}}

{{Neighborhoods of Denver}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Five Points, Denver