West Colfax is a neighborhood of

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The neighborhood is located in the West Denver area. In 2015 the population of the neighborhood was 9,120, and there were 4,055 housing units.

Boundaries

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.

Landmarks

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.

Sloan's Lake Sloan's Lake, also known as Sloan Lake and Sloans Lake, is a body of water, park, and neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, US. The neighborhood is located on the northwest side of Denver. The lake is the central feature of Sloan's Lake Park, which i ...

is not in the neighborhood, but it is just north of its northern border. St. Anthony Central Hospital had been located in the neighborhood since 1892. In 2011, the hospital moved to a new location in Lakewood. The old hospital site in West Colfax was demolished in 2013 and is being redeveloped into various mixed-use and residential developments. Being the home of Denver's West Side Jewish Community,History
ColfaxAvenue.com website, accessed February 13, 2010. the oldest Jewish community in Denver, much of the West Colfax neighborhood lies within an

eruv An eruv (; he, עירוב, , also transliterated as eiruv or erub, plural: eruvin or eruvim) is a ritual halakhic enclosure made for the purpose of allowing activities which are normally prohibited on Shabbat (due to the prohibition of '' h ...

History

Named for U.S. Vice President

Schuyler Colfax Schuyler Colfax Jr. (; March 23, 1823 – January 13, 1885) was an American journalist, businessman, and politician who served as the 17th vice president of the United States from 1869 to 1873, and prior to that as the 25th speaker of the Hous ...

and incorporated in 1891 with a population of around 300, the Town of Colfax was its own municipality. Golden Avenue was the town's main street, so named as it was the link between Denver and Golden. It was renamed Colfax Avenue in 1896. In 1897 the Town of Colfax was annexed by the City of Denver.Piton Foundation. West Colfax Neighborhood Description.
/ref> 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 Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

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 Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

the neighborhood saw little to no development until the 1940s and 1950s when a housing boom occurred along with the

Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He wa ...

and

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, Jews,

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, Latino, Native American, and

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

residents The Average Price per Square Foot for a home in West Colfax was $333.00 in June 2017.

References

External links

West Colfax Association of Neighbors
*Denver Department of Planning & Community Development
West Colfax Assessment
Spring 2005 {{Neighborhoods of Denver Former municipalities in Colorado Jews and Judaism in Denver Neighborhoods in Denver