Cherry Creek 150 and the Untold Story
2026 marks the 150th year that Colorado become a state. As a part of that celebration, a group of Cherry Creek stakeholders worked with Governor Polis’ US250/Colorado 150 Commission to create a 150 year history of the Cherry Creek Area.
Cherry Creek 150 Draws Record Crowd for Neighborhood History Event
More than 150 people packed the Daniels Fund Building on June 25, the largest single-event crowd the building has seen since it opened in 2003. They came for Cherry Creek 150: And the Untold Story, an open, drop-in evening built to answer one question: what does 150 years of one Denver neighborhood actually look like once you follow it all the way back?
The answer starts long before 1876. At least 51 tribal nations once use the Cherry Creek corridor as a trading route. A flood-prone farm town called Harmon rises up and then goes bankrupt, forcing its annexation to the City of Denver. And for most of the twentieth century, the blocks between First and Sixth Avenues are home to a genuinely diverse mosaic of Jewish, Greek, and Black families and businesses that help build the neighborhood long before it becomes synonymous with boutiques and high-rises.
Guests walk timeline boards spanning that full arc, enjoy stories and pictures from Bromwell and Steck students, see and touch important artifacts, and hear from two distinguished panels sharing firsthand accounts of how the area develops, both as a place where people live and as a commercial district that grows into one of the most successful retail areas in the nation.
Before leaving, guests are invited to write notes about what they learn at the event and what they believe should never be forgotten.
The Cherry Creek 150 event is bigger than Cherry Creek. It is the neighborhood’s own contribution to Colorado’s statewide 150th-anniversary commemoration, with 2026 marking both Colorado’s sesquicentennial and the nation’s 250th anniversary.
