<< Return to Mile High published Jan 28, 2005 | updated Sep 23, 2008

Daniels & Fisher Tower

The D&F Tower stands at the corner of 16th and Arapahoe in downtown Denver. Built in 1910, this Renaissance Revival tower was the tallest building west of the Mississippi 1910 to 1914, surpassed in 1914 by Seattle's Smith Tower.

The D&F Tower was built as the cornerstone of the Daniels & Fisher department store which occupied the entire block between Arapahoe and Lawrence. The tower was built by William Cooke Daniels after he returned from Venice, Italy. Mr Daniels wanted a tower that was modeled after St. Mark's Campanile, the bell tower of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice.

The May Company bought out Daniels & Fisher in the 1950s and the department store became May D&F. The tower was renamed the May D&F tower after the May Company acquired Daniels & Fisher. The department store was torn down in 1965, but public outcry saved the tower.

The tower is 18 stories tall and the floor plan is only 32 square feet. The D&F Tower is currently the centerpiece of Skyline Park, a narrow strip of downtown park that runs down Arapahoe from 15th Street to 18th Street.

While the department store has long since been gone, the tower was kept on the corner of the site and preserved. The top of the tower is adorned with the four original Seth Thomas clocks, one on each side of the tower.

Related Links
D&F Tower - Wikipedia
Secrets of the D&F Tower story on 9news.com
St Mark's Campanile - Wikipedia

Comments ...

Sep 19, 2008 Gregory

The D&F Tower is such a wonderful landmark, it really does elicit images of
early development of the west. You can almost picture the tower rising far
above the 3 and 4 story buildings in early Downtown Denver at the turn of the
20th century.

We owe the denverites who saved the tower in 1965 a debt of gratitude.