Neighborhood Spotlight: Barnum

Barnum
In 1878 master showman P. T. Barnum purchased a tract of land on the western edge of Denver. Over 130 years the area has developed into a robust neighborhood with a population that is more than 75 percent Hispanic. This community of young first-generation and immigrant families today welcomes newcomers from all over the world.

 

History

Barnum began as a nineteenth-century Denver suburb, developed as a haven for working-class families. P. T. Barnum’s involvement with his namesake’s development has become part of Denver folklore, especially in the durable legend of the showman’s plan to establish a winter home for his circus in the city. Beginning in the 1950s, large numbers of Hispanic residents, whether from long-established Colorado families relocating to jobs and opportunities in Denver or relatively new immigrants from Mexico, began to make Barnum a distinctly Hispanic neighborhood. In 1950, just ten percent of Barnum’s residents were Hispanic; three decades later, in 1980, a majority of its residents (50%) were Hispanic.

 

Today

Today’s Barnum remains a neighborhood of families, now mostly Hispanic (some 75% [2000]) and of modest means (with an average household income of $41,185 [2000]). More than two-thirds of Barnum’s housing is owner-occupied, and the rate of Hispanic homeownership in the neighborhood is substantially higher (66.01% [2000]) than for the rest of Denver (49.11% [2000]). Barnum remains a vibrant working class neighborhood, as it has been for more than a century.

Source: Denver Public Library: Western History & Genealogy Department

More Info: The Piton Foundation

 

 

ECM began working in Barnum (6th Avenue-Federal Boulevard-Alameda Avenue-Sheridan Boulevard) in 2010.  Through a connection with a few Villa Park residents who attended a church in the neighborhood, they reached out to see if ECM would consider working in Barnum.  Since that time, ECM has adopted 110 blocks in the neighborhood, while partnering with 200+ families on a project at their home.  Yet, we are only about 3/5 of the way through adopting all the blocks in the area.  ECM also supports projects that encourage neighbors to get to know one another and a group of residents applied for a grant and planned an event in the fall of 2012 with food, music, games, which was a true community celebration.