Berkeley (Denver, Colorado) | neighborhood

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In 1888, a group of Kansas City investors employed the real estate firm of Carleton Ellis and John McDonough to subdivide and sell the land. Berkeley was advertised as a healthful suburb, free from the smoke and dust of the city, with plentiful water and convenient public transportation. It grew slowly and by the time it was annexed on 1 December 1902, there were only 707 residents in the town.

The eastern stretches of Berkeley were especially slow to develop. In 1910 there were only three houses between Regis College and the Henry Weirich celery farm at the east end of Rocky Mountain Lake. At this time, the area was largely occupied by "truck farmers" -- farmers who took their fruits and vegetables into Denver to sell. and the area remained this way through the 1940's.

The Berkeley neighborhood continued to develop throughout the mid 20th century, largely though subdivisions. The lion's share of the growth occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. Berkeley has experienced rapid growth and rise in property values in the last 20 years and particularly since the closing of Elitch Gardens Amusement Park in October of 1994. Particularly, Tennyson Street has become a commercial and cultural center for Northwest Denver, beginning in the current decade to rival Highland Square in nearby Highland.