The Whittier neighborhood is one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods. Whittier is conveniently located approximately 2 miles northeast of downtown Denver. Borders are York and Downing Streets, east and west, and Martin Luther King Boulevard and 23rd Avenue, north and south. City Park, created in 1882, lies just to the east of the Whittier neighborhood.
Whittier neighborhood’s namesake stems from Whittier Elementary School, located at 24th and Downing Streets, which, in turn, is named for poet abolitionist and a founding member of the Republican Party, John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892).
Whittier became home to many of Denver’s finest craftsmen in the early years of the city. The neighborhood boasts homes of exceptional architectural detail, most from the early 1890s and prior to 1940. Many of the homes located in Whittier represent the skills of these craftsmen in their ornate detail.
A combination of the proximity to downtown, parks and City Park Municipal Golf Course, in addition to early twentieth century homes of craftsman architecture, is creating a driving influx of young professionals and their families to the Whittier neighborhood.
Neighborhood parks include Dr. Daniel Hale Williams Park, Fredrick Douglas Park, Fuller Park with an off-leash dog area, and Madame C.J. Walker Park. Other parks and points of interest in close proximity to Whittier are City Park and City Park Golf Course, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and the beloved Denver Zoo. Another great attribute to the Whittier neighborhood is its proximity to the area’s Light Rail line.