HISTORIC DISTRICT
PRESENTATION
West Highlands Neighborhood Assoc.
Date: April 6, 2010
POTENTIAL NAMES:

Ghost Historic District


Allen M. Ghost, the Denver real estate investor and
developer who platted the area in 1887.
Kountze Historic District

The Kountze brothers, four siblings from eastern
Ohio, were “conspicuously identified with pioneer
banking in the west,” according to early Denver
historian Jerome Smiley. Operating initially as
“Kountze Brothers”, the men eventually established
Colorado National Bank
Highlands Square Historic District
 Old City Line Historic District

ALLEN M GHOST
Denver real estate developer in the Town of
Highlands in the late 1880s
 A lawyer and educator during his early career
 Involved in the development of eighteen towns in
Nebraska
 Moved to Denver about 1877
 In Colorado he engaged in real estate acquisition
and development and construction of business
blocks in downtown Denver
 Created Park Side Subdivision in East Denver

KOUNTZE BROTHERS
The district is principally composed of a portion
of the Kountze Heights Subdivision that Ghost
apparently named in honor of the Kountze
brothers, who sold the land to his real estate
firm, Ghost & Adams.
 Initially the subdivision was advertised as having
an “unsurpassed” location; fine views of Denver,
Sloan’s Lake, and the mountains; shade trees;
and artesian water and irrigation.

STREETCAR SUBURBS
Ghost planned the residential area as a
“streetcar suburb,” which would have “quick and
easy” access to downtown Denver via a street
railway
 Streetcar suburbs originated in the 1870s in the
United States as developers acquired large tracts
of land outside the city core and subdivided and
marketed them as “versions of the residential
ideal” enjoyed by wealthier citizens in
picturesque enclaves

Homes Identified for Intensive Survey:
DID YOU KNOW:
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Typical elements of streetcar suburbs include the
construction of houses for both skilled workers and
middle class citizens and the inclusion of housing
suitable for extended families and the elderly
Houses varied in size, from small one-story to
substantial two-and-a-half-story buildings
District is significant as a neighborhood of wellpreserved residences reflecting architectural styles
popular in the United States during the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and it is
especially rich in Queen Anne, Bungalow, and
Edwardian style homes, which constitute the largest
groups by architectural style.
INTERESTING FACTS:
During the 1890s, residents of the area pursued
occupations such as teacher, clerk, railroad and
street railway employees, druggist, salesman,
postal carrier, government employee, business
owner, machinist, fireman, policeman, physician,
miner, tailor, watchmaker, dressmaker, pastor,
lawyer, and bookkeeper
 Numerous families took in boarders or lived with
extended families well into the twentieth century

INTERESTING FACTS:
Only two of the 206 buildings within the
potential district had non-Domestic original
functions: the 1897 and 1955 church buildings of
the Highland Park Presbyterian Church
 ….of the 204 buildings with Domestic original
uses, 192 were single dwellings and 12 were
duplexes or double houses.

ARCHITECTURAL STYLES:

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Queen Anne style represents the largest group of
houses by style, with 69 examples representing 33
percent of the total buildings in the district
Bungalow form houses represent the second largest
category, with 33 examples or 16 percent of the total
Edwardian style homes represent 25 houses , which is
12 percent of the resources
Sixteen Classic Cottage style houses are present,
constituting 8 percent of the total
Thirteen houses (6 percent) represent the Foursquare
form within the neighborhood
Eleven houses are categorized simply as Late
Victorian without a subcategory
1900 CENSUS:
1900 U.S. Census found those born in Colorado
constituted the largest group, many of whom
were children of homeowners, with New York,
Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio representing the
birthplaces with the next largest groups of people
 District residents also included people who came
from Canada, Germany, England, Sweden,
Ireland, Denmark, Wales, and Russia

NOTABLE RESIDENTS:
Mortician George Olinger headed an undertaking
business that remains active today
 Reverend Thomas Bliss was influential in
theological circles and led local churches
 City employee Howard C. Maloney rationalized
Denver’s street system

National Register

State Register