Baker, Denver

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The South Side-Baker Historic District, also known as Baker Neighborhood or Baker, is a neighborhood in Denver, Colorado.

[edit] Geography

Baker is generally defined by these boundaries: Northern Boundary - West 6th Avenue Eastern Boundary - Lincoln Avenue Southern Boundary - Mississippi Avenue Western Boundary - Platte River [1]

Within those boundaries is a Landmark District with irregular borders that range from within a half block of Alameda and Broadway on the South and East to as far as Fox on the West and 5th on the North. [2] (pdf) The Landmark District designation is part of the Denver city government's Historic Preservation effort. [3]

The South Side-Baker Historic District neighborhood highlighted on this map of Denver.

[edit] History

By some measures, Baker is the oldest neighborhood in Denver as it has the oldest stock of buildings in the city.[4]. The neighborhood includes several 19th century brick houses[5] and several homes by locally famous architect William Lang.

Recently, Baker has become a popular urban neighborhood because of its central location and its access to several commercial business enclaves. This has led to a transformation of the neighborhood, which worries some residents because of an increased density, more traffic, and the propensity of some developers to scrape historic homes and replace them with denser luxury duplexes, town-homes, or other development.