Henry C. Brown

Henry C. Brown (November 12, 1820 – 1906) was a carpenter, architect, real estate developer and businessman during Denver's early days.

After operating a boarding house and carpentry shop, both of which were washed away by the flood of 1864, he homesteaded 160 acres in Denver.

He then learned the trade of joiners and carpenters and then he left the area and found work at Wheeling, West Virginia.

[1] On January 14, 1841, Brown married his first wife, Anna Louise Inskeep, at St. Clairsville in Belmont County, Ohio.

[3][a] During their marriage, he traveled the western territory of what is now the United States and around South America looking for business investments.

After two months in San Francisco, he went to Washington Territory where he entered into several enterprises, including operating a saw mill and then a ranch.

He left his children with their grandparents and headed to St. Louis, Missouri[6] in 1844 and became an assistant to his brother Isaac Brown.

[1][4] Brown married a Quaker schoolteacher, Jane Cary Thompson, on August 3, 1858, in Decatur, Nebraska.

The intention was to settle in California, because Brown had real estate interests there and had investments in the lumber industry in the Pacific Northwest.

[1] While sitting on a hill and looking at the Rocky Mountains, Jane decided that she would go no further, but he was free to continue the trek to California.

Henry consented and they settled in Denver[6] alongside Cherry Creek, near the confluence with the South Platte River.

She married a man, John Douglas Campbell, who was nearer to her own age and she returned most of the expensive gifts that Brown had bought for her.

In 1888, excavation began for the hotel based upon a provisional contract for the land by William H. Bush and James Duff with Brown.

[11][b] Brown hired architect Frank Edbrooke by 1890 to design the hotel, which had a triangular shape based upon the lot it sat on.

It is an elegant building that had its own artesian well, a private electric plant, steam heat, and elevators when it opened.

Now a four-star and four-diamond hotel, it has been visited by historical figures, stars, and United States Presidents.