Denver's "Uptown" neighborhood is located east of Downtown in the central city. bounded on the north by Twentieth and Twenty-third Avenues, on the east by York Street, on the south by Colfax Avenue and on the west by Broadway.

During the period of Denver's early construction boom, prior to the Silver Crash of 1893, many of Denver's prominent families moved eastward, up the hill and established on of the city's premier residential neighborhoods: Uptown. The westerly portion was then known as Brown's Bluff, named for its developer and owner of the Brown Palace Hotel, Henry Brown. Further east, Swallow Hill, encompassing the area from Colfax to Seventeenth Avenue, and Clarkson to Downing Streets, was developed by Denver banker and real estate entrepreneur George Ransom Swallow and his business partner, Ellen E Ramsdall. It is now a National Historic District. Many of Denver's most ornate and expensive homes and elegant multi-family residences were built in Uptown during this period.

After the Silver Crash, building slowed somewhat, but by World War I, Uptown was almost completely developed. Presbyterian, St. Joseph and St. Luke Hospitals were established in the late nineteenth century, creating the largest hospital network in the Rocky Mountain region. The addition of Children's Hospital, in 1910, created a health care system with over 1700 beds. It continues as a tremendous asset to the community, contributing financial strength and a substantial employment base.