The Wyman Historic District Walking Tour: Gilded Age of Denver

Step back into the Denver of silver barons & society pioneers on this tour through one of the city's most storied residential neighborhoods.
About this Event

Wyman's Historic Walking Tour

Step back into the Denver of silver barons and society pioneers on this immersive walking tour through one of the city's most storied residential neighborhoods. The Wyman Historic District, stretching along the Colfax Avenue corridor, represents Denver's early social development driven by water availability and access to downtown via the Colfax Avenue streetcar line. It was here, amid wide sidewalks and uniform front-yard setbacks, that the city's first families built their legacies in stone and stained glass. Denver

Your anchor and point of departure is the Castle Marne — a masterwork of Denver's Gilded Age. Dating from 1889 and designed by noted Denver architect William Lang for investment banker William Raymond, the massive three-story residence features walls of rusticated stone, round arches, asymmetrical massing, elaborate cornices, a steeply pitched roof, and a prominent five-sided corner bay. Lang, who also designed the famous Molly Brown House, left his eclectic Victorian fingerprints across this neighborhood, and the Castle Marne is his crown jewel. Among its many distinguished residents were James H. Platt, a cabinet member under President Ulysses S. Grant, and John Mason, the founder and first curator of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Sarah Platte Decker, who helped Colorado women win the right to vote, also called the castle home.

Along the way, your guide will bring to life the stories of the families who shaped this neighborhood — and the city — before and after the Silver Crash of 1893 abruptly halted the building boom. You'll trace the arc of Denver's ambition, from a frontier outpost to a metropolis of mansions, and understand why the Wyman District remains one of the most intact Victorian-era neighborhoods in the American West.

Approximately 60 minutes | Moderate pace | Begins and ends at the Castle Marne, 1572 Race Street