Brown Palace Hotel
Denver, Colorado
Opened 1892
Henry C. Brown, built the nine stories high Brown Palace Hotel, on a
triangular piece of land he owned, between Broadway, Tremont and 17th
Streets. This land is located at the corner of the Capital Hill subdivision
developed by
Henry C. Brown.
The hotel from concept to grand opening took four years
to complete. Maxcy Tabor and Bill Bush joined Henry C. Brown in the
building project.
The Brown Palace was one of the first fire-proofed hotels in the
United States built with a steel framework. Denver had witnessed the
vulnerability of wood-framed structures to destruction by fire. The city's
business district was burned down on a windy day, April 19, 1863, when
a fire started in the rear of the Cherokee House, a hotel at the corner of
15th and Blake.
Colorado red granite and Arizona sandstone were used
on the exterior of the building while Onyx was used extensively in the
interior walls of the hotel. The firm of "Geddes & Seerie"
were the stone contractors for this project.
Sculptor, James Whitehouse, was commissioned to create 26 medallions carved
in stone, each depicting a native Rocky Mountain animal. The carved
animals are located between the seventh floor windows. The company of
"James Whitehouse and August Wirgler" operated their sculptor
business at 1009 South 8th with assistants John A. Aitken, Joseph Fechtner,
and Harry Whitehouse.
