You may know the Colburn Hotel as a distinctive landmark of the Capitol Hill neighborhood, but do you know its history?
Located at 980 Grant Street, Judge Ernest A. Colburn financed the 10-story structure (at a cost of $750,000) and called on architect William Bowman to design it in 1925. Bowman had already designed several Denver buildings, including the State Office Building at 201 E. Colfax (1921), Byers Junior High School (1921), and the Norman Apartments (1924), when Colburn contracted him for the hotel project.
The Colburn Hotel formally opened on May 25, 1928, providing upscale lodging in a primarily residential neighborhood. In 1930, Colburn added a twin building to the south of the hotel, with the intent to create luxury apartments. Although construction of the apartment building was completed in 1931, its interior was not finished until sometime after 1936. Judge Ernest A. Colburn sold the Colburn Hotel and apartment building in 1932. He died on New Year's Eve, 1935.
As time marched on, the Colburn changed hands and looks several times. Its slogan became "The Hotel With A Personality." Although the hotel hosted lawmakers, foreign dignitaries and stars of the stage, its most noted visitors were Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg, who spent time at the hotel in the summer of 1947. It has been reported that they, along with Jack Kerouac, were frequent customers at the hotel's bar.
In 1983, the Colburn Hotel received an $800,000 renovation that returned the hotel's dining room to its original configuration, restored the 14-foot ceilings, and furnished the rooms in colors ranging from what the Rocky Mountain News noted as "vivid red to a sober gray-beige." The Colburn Hotel ended its 64-year-old history operating as a hotel on December 2, 1989.
Today, the Colburn Hotel operates as a mixed-use development featuring apartments, businesses and a restaurant/bar.
Interested in doing your own building history research? Visit the Western History and Genealogy Department's Building History Tutorial.
Comments
My grandmother was the head
My grandmother was the head housekeeping in the 1950. I remember us picking her up after her day was done. Love that place. ♥️
Thanks for sharing your
Thanks for sharing your memories, Linda!
It says that the Colburn
It says that the Colburn stopped being a hotel in December of 1989, but I worked there towards the end of 1990 and it was still a hotel. That hotel started my long career in the hotel industry. I started working there in 1990 and still am working in hotels
Thanks for your comment, Dan.
Thanks for your comment, Dan. We used the following article to derive that date:
"Colburn Hotel closes after 64 years - Movers, shakers, even Red Fenwick's horse pranced at landmark," by Paul Hutchinson, Denver Post, December 1, 1989. The first sentence of the article states, "The Colburn Hotel, a fixture on Capitol Hill for 64 years, will shut its doors tomorrow, a victim of changing times and a struggling economy."
I lived there at the hotel in
I lived there at the hotel in 1990 with my parents who both worked in the restaurant. I knew a couple that also worked there. Their names were Lynn and Ron.
I stopped there September 4th
I stopped there September 4th 1976 whilst doing a Winston Churchill travelling fellowship I traveled from Washington DC right through many US states by greyhound bus
Judge Ernest A. Colburn was
Judge Ernest A. Colburn was my great-grandfather. I stayed at the Colburn one night in 1972 on a cross-country road trip. Nice to know a piece of the family legacy is still standing.
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