West Colfax is a neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. The neighborhood is located in the West Denver area. According to the Piton Foundation, in 2007, the population of the neighborhood was 11,285, and there were 3,958 housing units.[1]
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The neighborhood is bordered on the west by Sheridan Boulevard, which is also the border with Jefferson County and the town of Lakewood, on the north by 17th and 19th avenues, on the east by Federal Boulevard, and on the south by Lakewood Gulch.
The neighborhood takes its name from West Colfax Avenue, which is the busiest street in the neighborhood and which runs east and west through it. The neighborhood contains many single-family homes, condos, and businesses. Also, St. Anthony Central Hospital is located in the neighborhood. Sloan's Lake is not in the neighborhood, but it is just north of its northern border.
West Colfax is the home of Denver's West Side Jewish Community[2]
"Colfax" was its own Municipality that incorporated in 1891 and had a population of about 300.In 1897 Colfax was annexed to Denver.[3]
Colfax Avenue was originally named "Golden Avenue," and was renamed in 1896 for Schuyler Colfax, who had been U.S. Vice President. West Colfax Avenue was the main street of the Town of Colfax.
In the early 1900s the area that is now known as West Colfax was sparsely populated with several mansions and scattered squatter's shacks. During this time West Colfax was known as "No Man's Land", and " Jim's Town".
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries a large wave of Jewish Immigrants from Eastern Europe moved into the West Colfax area. These immigrants turned "No Man's Land" into Denver's version of a European neighborhood.
During this time, West Colfax Avenue was lined with two-story brick commercial buildings, saloons, stores, a hotel, and a restaurant. West Colfax Avenue had a constant flow of hay wagons and peddlers that came from the agriculture communities of Golden and Morrison en route to Denver.
In The 1920s Colfax Elementary and Lake Junior High School were built to accommodate the growing neighborhood. During the Great Depression the neighborhood saw little to no development until the 1940s and 1950s when a housing boom occurred along with the Barnum and Sloan's Lake areas.
A wave of Latinos immigrated to the neighborhood in the 1960s. Young Anglo families immigrated to the neighborhood in the 1970s, and in the mid 1970s a wave of Southeast Asians immigrated into the area. Today, West Colfax is a diverse neighborhood made up of Anglo, Jewish, African American, Latino, Native American, and Southeast Asian residents[3]