I knew nothing about the history of Denver before I arrived in Colorado last October. I had no idea when the city was founded (in 1958!) or that once the newcomers settled down, they first established bars and right after that they built brothels making Market Street into Denver’s Red Light District.
So, given the hundreds of years that Denver has been in existence, it makes sense that there’d be a good number of ghost signs around one of the most historic parts of the city – Lower Downtown. I’ve always found these kind of haunting, which is more than appropriate given that they’re called “ghost” signs.
You can see tons of ghost signs around New York City but given that Denver is so much more spread out, it makes it easier to spot these half-faded signs of the past. Not to mention that the smallness of Denver itself, if you’re by yourself and starring up at these signs, it can feel very eerie.
I wish I could tell you something about any of these business of the past whose signs are still alive and well, but my Google searches didn’t amount to anything. I’ll do a photo posting soon of all the ghost signs in New York City because we definitely have some good ones. (If you want to see them, I’d suggest you walk the High Line!)
Let me know in the comments where your favorite ghost signs are and post photos, too!
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