Denver the beautiful, blest be her name Hearts of her subjects with pride are aflame Crowned with bright glory that never can wane Denver the Queen of the Mountain and Plain.

[from: Denver Municipal Facts, 1910]

With the end of the Great War on November 11, 1918, America began a new era. Denver was riding a new boom of prosperity that started before the war. The horrors of the trenches and the pain of the influenza epidemic were put behind as Park Hill - Denver's Streetcar Suburb - was blossoming.

The 'Teens had been good for Denver. In 1911, two new buildings caught the eyes of Queen City citizens: a new St. John's Episcopal Cathedral was completed at 14th and Clarkson, and the tallest building in town topped out: the Venetian bell tower of the Daniel's and Fisher building at 16th and Lawrence.

This energy spilled over into a large civic construction project: rebuilding Denver's Union Station. Planning started in 1912, with the new station opening on October 31, 1915. In an eerie precursor to Mayor Wellington Webb's bungled problems at Denver International Airport, completion was hampered by the challenge of putting a baggage handling system in the subway under the tracks. The final touches on the station weren't complete until 1916, a year after opening.

Designed as haven for the wealthy part of Denver, Park Hill was first platted in 1887 by Eugene A. von Winkler, a minor German Baron reportedly dismissed from the Prussian army for falling off his horse. Von Winkler had big dreams for his city, announcing that he would build his suburb around the contemporary equivalent to our golf course - a horse racing track. An early prospectus for the subdivision claimed the parkways rivaled the "Auteil or Passy in Paris, the Ring Strasse in Vienna and Riverside Drive in New York." In Park Hill, children would "be free from the contaminating influence of the downtown city streets."

Energetic Mayor Robert W. Speer took office again for the last time in 1916. Speer served a two year term, as did all Denver mayors prior to 1960. With the help of the Rocky Mountain News, Speer shut down Denver's gambling houses in the early 1900's, and followed up by closing the notorious Market Street brothels in 1911.

In 1918, new civic investment and philanthropy resulted in a new wing on the Museum, improved Zoo exhibits, and new gates and fountains in City Park.