Changes

==Geography==

==Geography==

The city itself covers 107 square miles (277 sq km), 5,280 feet (1,610 meters). Winding through Denver are the South Platte River and Cherry Creek. The Rockies provide a spectacular backdrop for the city, and they also protect it from high winds.

The city itself covers 107 square miles (277 km²), 5,280 feet (1,610 meters). Winding through Denver are the South Platte River and Cherry Creek. The Rockies provide a spectacular backdrop for the city, and they also protect it from high winds.

Denver is a spacious city of parks, tree-lined streets, broad avenues, old buildings, and modern skyscrapers. Its climate is mild and dry, primarily because the Rockies divert moisture-bearing winds away from the area. Formerly known for its clear sunny skies it was long a destination for people suffering from [[tuberculosis]].  Since 1950, however, exhaust fumes from automobiles and trucks have caused serious air pollution.  The average temperature in July, the warmest month, is 73 °F (23 °C.), and the average temperature in January, the coldest month, is 28.5 °F. (-2 °C.). Annual precipitation is only 15 inches (380 mm), and the city has an average of 250 clear or partly cloudy days a year. The sunshine makes it a very popular tourist destination; it is also a gateway to the ski resorts 25 to 100 miles to the west.

Denver is a spacious city of parks, tree-lined streets, broad avenues, old buildings, and modern skyscrapers. Its climate is mild and dry, primarily because the Rockies divert moisture-bearing winds away from the area. Formerly known for its clear sunny skies it was long a destination for people suffering from [[tuberculosis]].  Since 1950, however, exhaust fumes from automobiles and trucks have caused serious air pollution.  The average temperature in July, the warmest month, is 73 °F (23 °C.), and the average temperature in January, the coldest month, is 28.5 °F. (-2 °C.). Annual precipitation is only 15 inches (380 mm), and the city has an average of 250 clear or partly cloudy days a year. The sunshine makes it a very popular tourist destination; it is also a gateway to the ski resorts 25 to 100 miles to the west.

==Downtown==

==Downtown==

At the center of downtown is the Denver Civic Center, a 40 acre (16-hectare) complex of parks and government buildings. At opposite ends of the Center are the City-County Building and the State Capitol. The Capitol is 272 feet (83 meters) high and has a dome covered with local gold. By the time the capitol was completed in 1900 (at 170% over budget) the building—a difficult-to-maintain hodgepodge of dirt-collecting nooks and crannies, grumblers said—was instantly too small. In the 21st century the debate is whether Colorado's aging yet "most important building" deserves a mere nip and tuck or an extreme makeover.<ref>Derek R. Everett, ''The Colorado State Capitol: History, Politics, Preservation.'' 2005.</ref>  Nearby are the Art Museum, and the Denver Public Library (which contains more than one million volumes, especially famous for its research collection in western history). The United States Mint makes half the nation's coins.  

At the center of downtown is the Denver Civic Center, a 40-acre (16-hectare) complex of parks and government buildings. At opposite ends of the Center are the City-County Building and the State Capitol. The Capitol is 272 feet (83 meters) high and has a dome covered with local gold. By the time the capitol was completed in 1900 (at 170% over budget) the building—a difficult-to-maintain hodgepodge of dirt-collecting nooks and crannies, grumblers said—was instantly too small. In the 21st century the debate is whether Colorado's aging yet "most important building" deserves a mere nip and tuck or an extreme makeover.<ref>Derek R. Everett, ''The Colorado State Capitol: History, Politics, Preservation.'' 2005.</ref>  Nearby are the Art Museum, and the Denver Public Library (which contains more than one million volumes, especially famous for its research collection in western history). The United States Mint makes half the nation's coins.  

Until the 1950s buildings in Denver could not be higher than 12 stories, but since then a number of skyscrapers more than 40 stories tall have been added to the city skyline, including the Arco Tower, Anaconda Tower, Great West Plaza, and the Amoco Building. During the 1970s an extensive urban renewal program was undertaken in downtown Denver, leading to the creation of a three-square block convention center and an elaborate theater complex, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Until the 1950s buildings in Denver could not be higher than 12 stories, but since then a number of skyscrapers more than 40 stories tall have been added to the city skyline, including the Arco Tower, Anaconda Tower, Great West Plaza, and the Amoco Building. During the 1970s an extensive urban renewal program was undertaken in downtown Denver, leading to the creation of a three-square block convention center and an elaborate theater complex, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

==Medical==

==Medical==

Across the western landscape of the United States, health was a natural resource, mined and sold by late-19th- and 20th-century town boosters and physicians to those afflicted with such chronic pulmonary illnesses as tuberculosis and asthma.  Denver was especially important as a destination and the city became the largest medical center for the mountain states by 1900.<ref>Gregg Mitman, "Geographies of Hope: Mining the Frontiers of Health in Denver and Beyond, 1870-1965." ''Osiris'' 2004 19: 93-111. Issn: 0369-7827</ref>  Religious and ethnic groups established the most important hospitals.  St. Luke's Hospital was established by the Episcopal Church in 1881; Presbyterian Hospital opened in 1926. Both operated nursing schools . In 1992 St. Luke's merged with Presbyterian Hospital, which subsequently merged with others to form the HealthONE hospital system.<ref>Rebecca Hunt, "Healers on the Hill: St. Luke's and Presbyterian Hospitals of Denver." ''Colorado Heritage'' 2005 (Sum): 2-17. Issn: 0272-9377</ref>  The Denver Homeopathic Hospital opened in 1894 to offer alternatives to the medical practices of "allopathic" medicine, the mainstream treatments of the day. Friction arose among the homeopathic physicians, and the hospital closed in 1909.<ref>Steve Grinstead, "Alternative Healing At The Crossroads: Denver's Homeopathic Hospital Succumbs To Modern Medicine."  ''Colorado Heritage'' 2005 (Sum): 18-29. Issn: 0272-9377</ref> The Swedish National Sanatorium was  established in 1905 by the Swedish community, as a national tuberculosis sanatorium. It was reorganized in 1956 and later became the Swedish Medical Center.<ref>Rebecca  Hunt, "Swedish National Sanatorium: Building Community in a Swedish-American Tuberculosis Sanatorium, 1905-59." ''Colorado Heritage'' 2005 (Sum): 30-46. ISSN: 0272-9377</ref>  Seraphine Pisko was first woman to head a major Jewish hospital when she was appointed in 1911 as secretary of Denver's National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives, Pisko skillfully and efficiently managed the institution, while advancing a personalized and nurturing philosophy of charity in contrast to efforts to centralize fund-raising and administration.

Across the western landscape of the United States, health was a natural resource, mined and sold by late-19th- and 20th-century town boosters and physicians to those afflicted with such chronic pulmonary illnesses as tuberculosis and asthma.  Denver was especially important as a destination and the city became the largest medical center for the mountain states by 1900.<ref>Gregg Mitman, "Geographies of Hope: Mining the Frontiers of Health in Denver and Beyond, 1870-1965." ''Osiris'' 2004 19: 93-111. Issn: 0369-7827</ref>  Religious and ethnic groups established the most important hospitals.  St. Luke's Hospital was established by the Episcopal Church in 1881; Presbyterian Hospital opened in 1926. Both operated nursing schools . In 1992 St. Luke's merged with Presbyterian Hospital, which subsequently merged with others to form the HealthONE hospital system.<ref>Rebecca Hunt, "Healers on the Hill: St. Luke's and Presbyterian Hospitals of Denver." ''Colorado Heritage'' 2005 (Sum): 2-17. Issn: 0272-9377</ref>  The Denver Homeopathic Hospital opened in 1894 to offer alternatives to the medical practices of "allopathic" medicine, the mainstream treatments of the day. Friction arose among the homeopathic physicians, and the hospital closed in 1909.<ref>Steve Grinstead, "Alternative Healing At The Crossroads: Denver's Homeopathic Hospital Succumbs To Modern Medicine."  ''Colorado Heritage'' 2005 (Sum): 18-29. Issn: 0272-9377</ref> The Swedish National Sanatorium was  established in 1905 by the Swedish community, as a national tuberculosis sanatorium. It was reorganized in 1956 and later became the Swedish Medical Center.<ref>Rebecca  Hunt, "Swedish National Sanatorium: Building Community in a Swedish-American Tuberculosis Sanatorium, 1905-59." ''Colorado Heritage'' 2005 (Sum): 30-46. ISSN: 0272-9377</ref>  Seraphine Pisko was first woman to head a major Jewish hospital when she was appointed in 1911 as secretary of Denver's National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives, Pisko skillfully and efficiently managed the institution, while advancing a personalized and nurturing philosophy of charity in contrast to efforts to centralize fund-raising and administration.

After World War II the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children became the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital. To the dismay of the city of Denver, the University of Colorado Medical School and associated hospitals left the city in 2007, taking 30,000 high-paying jobs, for a huge new campus in Aurora centered on the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. It solidified the Denver Metro Area as the premier medical center in a thousand mile radius, but brought into debate the state's sharply reduced budget for medical education and higher education generally.

After World War II the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children became the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital. To the dismay of the city of Denver, the University of Colorado Medical School and associated hospitals left the city in 2007, taking 30,000 high-paying jobs, for a huge new campus in Aurora centered on the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. It solidified the Denver Metro Area as the premier medical center in a thousand-mile radius, but brought into debate the state's sharply reduced budget for medical education and higher education generally.

==History==

==History==

The Denver Broncos have played in six super bowls and won two. Voters in 1998 raised $270 million in taxes to build the $360 million Invesco Field at Mile High, a new football stadium. In 2001 it joined Coors Field, which opened for Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies in 1995, the Pepsi Center, which opened as the new home of the NHL Colorado Avalanche and the NBA Denver Nuggets in October 1999 and Dick's Sporting Goods Park, home of the Rapids, opened in 2006.  Denver's Lower Downtown district (referred to as LODO), has been attracting new residents and businesses to the downtown area.

The Denver Broncos have played in six super bowls and won two. Voters in 1998 raised $270 million in taxes to build the $360 million Invesco Field at Mile High, a new football stadium. In 2001 it joined Coors Field, which opened for Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies in 1995, the Pepsi Center, which opened as the new home of the NHL Colorado Avalanche and the NBA Denver Nuggets in October 1999 and Dick's Sporting Goods Park, home of the Rapids, opened in 2006.  Denver's Lower Downtown district (referred to as LODO), has been attracting new residents and businesses to the downtown area.

The first baseball park was Broadway Grounds, where baseball games were being played by 1862. Some early baseball parks were located in the middle of local horse racing tracks. Broadway Park was the home of Denver's first professional teams for about thirty years, into the 1910's. Merchants Park was built in 1922 as the home of the Denver Bears and of the Denver Post Baseball Tournament. When the Denver Bears team was revived after World War II, a replacement for the aging Merchants Park was needed, and Bears Stadium, later renamed Mile High Stadium, was built in 1948. Coors Field, opened in 1993, is the latest Denver baseball field.

The first baseball park was Broadway Grounds, where baseball games were being played by 1862. Some early baseball parks were located in the middle of local horse racing tracks. Broadway Park was the home of Denver's first professional teams for about thirty years, into the 1910s. Merchants Park was built in 1922 as the home of the Denver Bears and of the Denver Post Baseball Tournament. When the Denver Bears team was revived after World War II, a replacement for the aging Merchants Park was needed, and Bears Stadium, later renamed Mile High Stadium, was built in 1948. Coors Field, opened in 1993, is the latest Denver baseball field.

==Education==

==Education==