Lower Downtown District, Inc.

Clocks, Toothbrushes and Bones - All Buried Under Speer Blvd

Jul 18, 2000

Over the last 140 years, buildings appear and disappear in the area we now call LoDo. Some hang on to become treasured antiques. Others are replaced with newer, bigger and brighter edifices.
But sometimes these lost buildings are re-born. Bits of a past life that were forgotten are rediscovered. The Tremont House is one such story.
First built in 1858 as the Temperance Hotel, a boarding house in Auraria, it offered liquor-free lodging. The concept failed quickly in the hard-drinking community of gold seekers. Its name was changed within the year to the Tremont House Hotel offering amenities for sleeping, dining, and drinking, not necessarily in that order. It soon became Denver's premier social spot and the site of many prominent social and political events.
The Original Structure
The Tremont House was originally a two-story, wood frame structure with a side gable roof behind a clapboard-sided false front. The windows consisted of double hung sash reminiscent of the Greek Revival style. The main entrance featured four-paneled sidelights on either side of the wood frame door. A second-story door opened onto the balcony with a turned banister supported by decorated brackets. The roof cornice was simple, overhanging and supported by pair brackets. The two chimneys were brick and a flagpole extended above the center of the fa?§ade.
The Political Balcony
On May 27, 1961, the Tremont House was gaily decorated for the inaugural reception in honor of the new territorial governor, William Gilpin.
A large crowd gathered in front of the hotel as Governor Gilpin gave his inaugural speech from the second floor balcony. Scenes such as this became quite common at the Tremont. One year later, in fact, when John Evans of Chicago replaced Gilpin as governor, the Tremont House was again the site of an impromptu political speech.
Good Food and Good Living
The Tremont became well known for its cuisine. The local press reported that "the rich delicacies and high living furnished by Judge Sargent are too much for [this writer]?…if you can't good living, don't go to the Tremont."
The Hotel continued to be one of the premier sites for visitors and locals to celebrate in Denver. It survived fire and flood and only lost its allure in the 1880's as the newer, bigger hotels were built in the growing center of Denver across the Cherry Creek along 17th Street.
The year 1912 marked the last appearance of the Tremont in the Denver City Directories. By then it has become a cheap boarding house and saloon. The 1912 flood damaged the building beyond repair.
Excavation Unearths Treasures
In 1987, however, the ghosts of the Tremont House were awakened. The Colorado Department of Transportation replaced the viaduct running along 14th Street and moved the road to the alignment of Speer Boulevard we have today. They conducted a historical archaeological study of the area to discover the original site of the Tremont House.
The archeological excavation uncovered over 26,000 artifacts that included some of the earliest historic settlement period material ever recovered in the Denver area. The list of artifact types was seemingly endless and included a broad array of items one might expect to find amongst the refuse of a hotel: glassware, crockery, dishes, silverware, furnishings, fragments of clothing, writing accessories, clocks, toothbrushes and more.
Most prevalent were the objects dating back to the period between 1855 and 1859. This probably reflects the habit of throwing away trash near the building, when in later years it would be carried to some other site away from town. A wide array of animal bones gave the researchers insight into the eating habits of the time. Wild game made up a large proportion of leftovers into the 1870's.
Through modern detection techniques and excavation of the site, the true story of the structure's history was uncovered. Now it's buried beneath Speer Boulevard.