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Market Street Area (The Columbia Hotel) - #3
1320 17th Street
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Architectural style: Nineteenth-Century Commercial with Italianate Elements Built: 1878 (Converted to Hotel in 1892) Architect: Frank Goodnow (Hotel Conversion) |
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Hotels, as Henry James
suggested in his book The American Scene, became "the
synonym for civilization in a footloose democratic society. In the
early days of the growth in the West, hotels were a spot of
civilization, a haven for travelers that provided not only the
necessities of rest and food, but also often offered luxury dining and
entertainment for locals."
Originally constructed as a commercial structure in 1878 and converted to a hotel in 1892, the Columbia Hotel was noted for its ninety guest rooms, each with hot and cold running water. The building was heated by steam and had electricity throughout. Only four blocks from Union Station, it became a popular stop for travelers. It was one of the thirteen major hotels lining 17th Street by the 1920s and is one of the few still standing. Note the corbeled brickwork beneath the bracketed cornice. The architect for the renovation, Frank Goodnow, came to Denver in 1887 from New York and is best known for the homes he designed, such as the John Palmer-Thom Hornsby Ferril House (1889); and the thirty cottages, built for $2,000 each for T. Freeman, at East 28th and High Street, some of which survive today. He left Denver in 1912. |
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