Platte Park (Denver, Colorado) | neighborhood

 neighborhood, draw only border

Much of the West University Community was incorporated in 1886 as the Town of South Denver. The first and only mayor of South Denver was James Fleming, an oil man from Pennsylvania who came to Colorado to try his luck in mining and real estate. The home he built on his South Denver estate in 1882 is still standing at South Grant Street and Florida Avenue in Platte Park and is now a designated Denver Landmark.

Platt Park, the 17 acre park that was the heart of the short-lived Town of South Denver, was actually named in honor of Colonel James H. Platt, founder of the Platt Paper Company and another early South Denver leader.

A sizeable Dutch community settled in the neighborhood and established the First Christian Reformed Church. The church was dedicated in 1908 and still stands at the corner of Colorado Avenue and Emerson Street.