Denver - Fun Facts!

I've done a lot of research on my new city. Much more than I ever did when I was, say, researching which colleges to apply to (Thanks mom! I'm not a degenerate all because of you!!)

Anyhow. I've come across a lot of fun little facts. Since its 4:30 and I had yet to post today, I figured I would share them:

Local boosters named the frontier mining camp on the South Platte River “Denver” after Kansas Territorial Governor James Denver in hopes of gaining political favor. Unfortunately, Denver had retired by the time they named the town.

There were originally three separate towns, with three separate names, where Denver now stands. In 1859, the other names were dropped in return for a barrel of whiskey to be shared by all. (I'm liking this city already!)

Fittingly enough, the first permanent structure in Denver was a saloon.

Despite being warned by Indians not to build there, early settlers didn’t listen. In its first few years, Denver was destroyed twice, once by fire and once by flood.

Denver is one of the few cities in history that was not built on a road, railroad, lake, navigable river or body of water when it was founded. It just happened to be where the first few flakes of gold were found in 1858.

According to the U.S. Census (2007), Colorado is the 8th fastest growing state in the nation. Denver’s population grew to 588,349 in July 2007, which made it the 26th largest city in the U.S. In addition, Denver has the 10th largest downtown area in the U.S.

Denver boasts 85 miles of off-road trails for bikers and runners and is Bicycle Magazine's top city for bicyclists. Bike paths link the city's 205 parks and many streets have bike lanes. More than 130 miles of designated bike paths and lanes. (woo hoo!!)

Colorado has the lowest obesity rate of the 50 states, and is the only state where the obesity rate is below 25%

Colorado's sunny, temperate climate makes year-round outdoor recreation possible. With 40 state parks and 3 national parks in metro Denver's back yard, prime recreation opportunities abound for biking, hiking, camping, fishing, or skiing.

More than 75 public and private golf courses are located in Metro Denver. 25 world-class ski resorts are within 100 miles of the metro Denver area.

The city and County of Denver has the largest city park system in the nation with 205 parks within the Denver city limits. Over 20,000 acres of parks are located in the nearby mountains. counties throughout metro Denver have preserved over 100,000 acres as open space for future generations to enjoy.

The stegosaurus was designated as the official state fossil on April 28, 1982 by executive order of Governor Richard D. Lamm. (Its a good thing I remember the "Stegosaurus song! - myyyy name is stegosaurus, I'm a funny looking din-o-saur. For on my back are many bony plates and on my head are more!)

The invention of the world's first "cheeseburger" belongs to Louis Ballast, who, in 1935, grilled a slice of cheese onto a hamburger at his Denver Humpty Dumpty drive-in. (mmmm nom nom nom)

The Mile High City really is a mile high. Denver's State Capitol building has a spot on the west steps (the 13th step) that is 5,280 feet above sea level. If sea levels rise, it may have to become the 14th step.

Denver receives 300 days of sunshine a year! That's more sun than San Diego or Miami Beach.

Colorado earns its nickname "Mother of Rivers" because more major rivers have their source in Colorado than in any other state.

Colfax Avenue in Denver is the longest continuous street in America. (I've also heard it can be quite dodgy)

With an average elevation of about 6800 feet, Colorado is the highest of all the states.

Denver's 16th Street Mall was designed by I.M. Pei, the architect who was also responsible for the glass pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris.



And now you know!