Hop Alley in the shadow of Lodo

Did you know that Denver once had a thriving Chinatown district?

In typical Denver form, our Chinatown was razed completely in 1940 to make way for warehouses and industrial buildings.


Known locally as Hop Alley, it was the epicenter for a community of as many as 3,000 Chinese immigrants brought into Denver to build the western railroads. Originally found between Market, Blake, 16th and 20th Streets, a race riot in 1880 scared much of the community away. Twenty years later, amidst Chinese community divisions, Hop Alley renewed itself with a smaller population a few blocks away between Blake and Market, from 20th to 21st Streets.

At its peak, Denver's chinatown was a dense mix of shops, residences, laundries and saloons. There was even a Chinese Theater on Market St. Over time however, the area became dilapidated, and the area was condemned due to urban blight.

It's tough to judge the needs of the city in 1940, considering the dilapidated state of the area. Cities invariably build upon themselves, and so it was with our Chinatown. In the shadow of today's Coors Field and the Lodo sports bars, Hop Alley once stood as a bridge between exotic China and our then wild-wild West.


I discovered this on the A View from the Rockies development blog HERE. The city of Denver website also has some great information in the Ballpark Neighborhood Summary Report HERE.