The second history of the 11100 Block of Gaylord Street began in 1975 when a courageous real estate broker named Mary Rae recognized the potential future for a blighted block in Denver's Capitol Hill Neighborhood. One erstwhile developer had collected nine properties on this seriously declining street, with the intention to demolish the Victorian era houses and build yet another high rise building. Happily, the developer's financing was questionable. Mary Rae put together a pair of interim buyers to hold the properties while she collected nine individual buyers. Those nine owners became the cadre of a reborn Gaylord Street and collaborators in a movement of new urban pioneers.
As the first short year of urban pioneering came to a close, the new-era residents of Gaylord Street gathered to celebrate their first New Years Eve together; a tradition which has continued for more than a quarter century.
The annual summer block party emerged at the end of the first full year of the reborn block. Grills, tables, chairs, and plenty of food and fun became an instant tradition in the summer of 1976.