A comprehensive guide to locating frequently used Denver building history resources, including building permits, property records, Sanborn fire insurance maps, real estate atlases, and directories.
For more detailed information about building history resources and how to use them, see the Denver Building History Tutorial and use the Building History Research Sheet, a fillable and interactive PDF form that can organize and guide building history research
FOR YEARS 1889–1892, 1900–1914:
- Denver Building Permit Application Log Books (WH1145), 1889-1892, 1902-1914
- NOTE: This collection is currently being digitized. Records not yet digitized are available for in-person viewing.
- Log books are browsable by year
- Denver Building Permit Indexes and Transcriptions, 1889-1892, 1900-1914
- Indexes and transcriptions compiled by Charles O. Brantigan to allow for searchability in the Denver building permit application log books (WH1145)
FOR YEARS 1915–1955:
- Denver Building Permits (WH1145), 1889-1955
- Organized by street name, then building number
- NOTE: This collection is currently being digitized. Records not yet digitized are available for in-person viewing.
FOR YEARS 1955 – PRESENT:
- Please note that official permit records for 1955–1959 do NOT exist
- Permits for 1960 – 1969 are kept by the City and County of Denver's Community Planning and Development office and are available via CORA request or appointment ONLY (720-865-2720; development.services@denvergov.org)
- Permits for 1970 to present are kept by the City and County of Denver and are available at the Building Records counter, located on the 2nd floor of the Wellington Webb Municipal Building at 201 W. Colfax Ave.
- Note that permit records for 2000 – present can also be found online in the City and County of Denver's Permit and Licensing Center (note: you will need to register for a free account)
- Note that permit records for 2000 – present can also be found online in the City and County of Denver's Permit and Licensing Center (note: you will need to register for a free account)
- You may be able to find supplemental building permit information in the following microfilm available at Special Collections and Archives (note that these resources have not been indexed):
- Cervi’s Rocky Mountain Journal (1949–1974)
- Rocky Mountain Journal (1974–1981)
- Rocky Mountain Business Journal (1981–1986)
1859-1884
Late 1800s–1950s
Late 1950s–early 1980s
Current information
Additional resource:
- Denver and Arapahoe County real estate records, 1886-1971 (WH1932)
- Public grantor-grantee information from Denver and Arapahoe counties - not all subdivisions represented
- This collection has not been digitized; contact Special Collections and Archives for access information
1859-1986
- Denver Clerk and Recorder Land Records Database - Grantor and Grantee indexes
The Library of Congress has digitized the following full-color Sanborn Fire Insurance maps of Denver:
- 1887 - Central Business District, Auraria
- 1890, volume 1 - Auraria, Lincoln Park, Baker, Civic Center
- 1890, volume 2 - Union Station; portions of Highland, Five Points, Cole, Whittier, Elyria Swansea
- 1893, volume 3 - portions of Five Points, Whittier, North Capitol Hill, Capitol Hill, City Park West, Elyria Swansea, Sunnyside, Berkeley, West Highland, Sloan Lake, Sun Valley, Villa Park
- 1903, volume 1 - Auraria, Lincoln Park; portions of Baker, Platt Park, Overland
- 1903, volume 2 - Union Station, Five Points, Cole, Whittier, Elyria Swansea
- 1904, volume 3 - portions of Whittier, Five Points, North Capitol Hill, City Park West, City Park, Congress Park, Cheesman Park, Capitol Hill, Cherry Creek, Washington Park West, Speer
- 1904, volume 4 - portions of Highland, Jefferson Park, Sloan Lake, West Highland, Berkeley, Sunnyside, Globeville, Chaffee Park
- May 1904 - Auraria, Union Station, Central Business District; portion of North Capitol Hill
Proquest Digital Sanborn Maps (available with DPL library card) has black-and-white Sanborn Fire Insurance maps of Denver for the years:
- 1887
- 1890–1893
- 1903–1904
- 1929–1930
- 1929–December 1951 (includes paste-overs)
- 1887 (one volume)
- 1890–1893 (three volumes - on microfiche)
- 1903–1904 with paste-overs through 1925 (four volumes)
- 1929–1930 with paste-overs through 1961 (eleven volumes)
- 1974 (incomplete, three volumes)
- Denver plat maps
- Robinson's Atlas of the City of Denver, Colorado 1887
- WIllits Farm Map, 1899
- Baist Atlas, 1905
- Additional maps can be searched in the Digital Collections DPL catalog
- 1866-1981 city directories on microfilm
- 1873-1923 available in the Digital Collections
- 1899, 1913, 1960-1996 hardcover Polk Directories
- 1924-2018 hardcover/softcover Householder/Criss-Cross Directories (arranged alphabetically by street)
- 1924-1937 in the Digital Collections
- Colorado business directories available for 1875-1943, 1950, 1956
- See our Colorado Directories Index for details on Special Collections and Archives full holdings
Ancestry Library Edition (available with library card) provides city directories from 1866, 1871-1979.
- Want to search these directories by address? Watch our short tutorial "Searching City Directories in Ancestry Library Edition"
The Building Technology Heritage Library (BTHL): a collection of over 12,000 American and Canadian, pre-1964 architectural trade catalogs, house plan books and technical building guides.