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Chronological List of District Heating
Systems in the United States |
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| 1879 Steam Map | 1994 Steam System Map |
The Denver City Steam Heating Company was organized in December 1879 by John Wesley Smith and others. The company began supplying steam on November 5, 1880 The company was bought by the Denver Gas and Electric Company in 1909, which became part of the Public Service Company of Colorado.
The Denver system became the oldest operating district steam system in the world in June 1969 after the shut down of the system in Lockport.
References
1879 "Heating
by Steam," The Rocky Mountain News, November 18,
1879, Page 5.
The Holly System to be Used in Denver.
1879 "Heating
the city by steam," The Rocky Mountain News,
December 16, 1879, Page 8.
Formation of a Stock Company of Local Capitalists for that Purpose.
Articles of incorporation of the Denver City Steam heating company were
filed in the secretary of state’s office yesterday.
The chief engineer and secretary will go east in a few days to examine
more thoroughly the practical workings of the works in Milwaukee, Detroit,
Lockport and a few other cities where steam is now used quite extensively,
and to gather such other information and data as may facilitate the
erection of works and the laying of pipes.
1880 Steam Heating Franchise to Denver City Steam Heating Company, January 5, 1880, Franchises and Special Privileges of the City and County of Denver (1907), Page 349.
1880 "Notice,"
The Rocky Mountain News, January 7, 1880, Page 7.
The Denver City Steam Heating company is now ready to receive
subscriptions to part of the capital stock of the company. Residents of
Denver desiring to subscribe can now do so by calling at the company’s
office, 401 Blake street, on or before the 10th inst., from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. J. W. Smith. President. Denver, Colorado, January 6, 1880.
1880 "Going
East to Inspect," The Rocky Mountain News, January 15, 1880,
Page 8
By this morning’s Kansas Pacific express, Mr. Charles H. Smith will take
his departure for the east in the interest of the Denver Steam Heating
company. He will be absent six weeks and will visit Chicago, Milwaukee,
London (Canada), New York city, Lockport, Springfield, and other points
where the system is in use, for the purpose of noting the latest
improvements. Of the capital stock assigned to Denver —$100,000— nearly
all has been taken, and negotiations are now under way for a suitable
location for the plant, with the expectation of breaking ground very early
in the spring.
1880 Lockport
Daily Journal, January 26, 1880, Page 4. | also here
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J. W. SMITH, Esq., President of the Denver steam heating company, is in
the city on business.
1880 "Heating by Steam. Present Aspects of the Proposed Improvement. The Council Liable to Grant a Modified Privilege. Exclusive in Nature but Limited to a Term of Five Years," Rocky Mountain News, January 28, 1880, Page 8.
1880 Letter from Charles
Smith, Denver Tribune, January 28, 1880, Page
Visit to Detroit
1880 Letter from Charles
Smith, Denver Tribune, January 31, 1880, Page
Visit to London, Ontario
1880 "The
Holly Steam Plan," The Rocky Mountain News, February
5, 1880 Page 8.
General outline of proposed Denver system.
1880 "Heating
by Steam," Letter from Charles Smith, Denver Tribune,
February 10, 1880, Page 6.
Visit to Troy and Lockport.
1880 "The
Steam Heating Project," The Rocky Mountain News,
February 24, 1880, Page 8.
While Birdsill Holly, superintendent of the Lockport Steam Heating
company, was here a few days since, he made a proposition, subject to
approval by his company, to furnish all the material and lay four miles of
main pipe, the work to be commenced in May and to be finished in August of
this year. The Denver company will accept Mr. Holly’s proposition as soon
as a sufficient amount of its capital stock is subscribed to justify the
undertaking.
1880 "The Denver Steam Heating Co is pushing its work rapidly," The Plumber and Sanitary Engineer 3:234 (May 15, 1880)
1880 "Steam
Heating," The Rocky Mountain News, April 7, 1880,
Page 8.
Preparing for Commencing Operations at Once.
The Works to be Completed and In Use by Next Winter.
1880 "A
Two-Mile Contract," The Rocky Mountain News, April 25, 1880,
Page 4.
At a meeting of the directors of the Denver City Steam Heating company,
held yesterday, a contract was awarded to D. F. Bishop, of Lookport, Ohio,
for laying two miles of pipe for the company.' Work will begin at once,
and as a member of the company said to a News reporter last night, "it
remains with the public to say whether more extensions shall not be
immediately inaugurated."
1880 Lockport
Daily Journal, May 1, 1880, Page 4. | also here
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A contract was signed Saturday evening by the President of the Holly Steam
Combination Company, of Lockport, N. Y., and the Denver City Steam Heating
Company, by which the former company agrees to furnish and lay two miles
of main pipe for the use of the latter. According to the terms of the
contract the pipe is to be all laid by the latter part of August, and if
the citizens of Denver come forward and subscribe liberally to the stock
of the Denver company, a further contract will be made for the laying of
two miles additional.— Denver Tribune, April 27th
1880 The
Rocky Mountain News, May 11, 1880, Page 8
The Denver City Steam Heating company commenced excavating for the
foundation of their large boiler station depot to-day near the gas works.
William Egerer has the contract for the stone foundation, and will
commence laying stone to-morrow. The building will be 75 feet by 140 on
the ground; the walls above ground will be brick, and with a brick smoke
stack 75 to 100 feet in height, large enough to receive the smoke from
twenty-four boilers of 100 horse power each. The depot is to be finished
early next month, at which time the company will commence laying the main
pipes in the streets of Denver.
1880 Lockport
Daily Journal, June 15, 1880, Page 3.
Next week the Holly Steam Company will ship several car loads of material
to Denver, CoL The system will be put in operation in the above city with
all possible dispatch.
1880 "The Steam Heating Works," The Rocky Mountain News, July 2, 1880, Page 5.
1880 “Colorado
as Seen by a Visitor of 1880,” by Rezin H. Constant, Colorado
Magazine, 12(3):111 (May 1935)
August 5, 1880. An immense building is being erected and well along,
at the foot of 16th for heating the City by Steam
1880 "Progress of Steam Heating," The Rocky Mountain News, September 3, 1880, Page 1.
1880 Weekly
Register Call, September 17, 1880, Page 1
The charge for heating rooms by the new Steam heating company at Denver,
will be $5 per year lor each 1,000 cubic feet of space. This manner of
assessment, however, will be only temporary. When the company has
everything in full working order, steam meters will be put into each
building.
1880 "Heating by Steam," Denver Tribune, November 4, 1880, Page 8
1880 Steam Heating, Denver Tribune, November 5, 1880, Page
1880 The
Rocky Mountain News, November 10, 1880, Page 8.
The success of the Holly steam heating works in this city is an
established fact, both for heating purposes and fur running machinery in
all parts of the city. The pipes have been connected with the engine at W.
J. Kinsey’s, and the remit exceeds their brightest anticipations. Although
the connection is made near the dead end of the pipe, everything runs
smooth as clockwork, the pressure scarcely varying a degree since the
connection was made. Safety and economy will lead many to adopt this
system.
1880 "Heating
Cities by Steam," Chicago Tribune, November 13, 1880, Page
14.
A Successful Test of the Mains in Denver. Denver Tribune, November
6
1881 Crofutt's
Grip-sack Guide of Colorado: A Complete Encyclopedia of the State:
Resources and Condensed Authentic Descriptions of Every City, Town,
Village, Station, Post Office and Important Mining Camp in the State,
by George A. Crofutt
Page 32: The Denver City Steam Heating Co. was incorporated December 15th,
1879, to supply steam by the Holly system or any other to heat dwelling
houses, stores, shops, factories, and other buildings, and for motive
power to run machinery and other purposes. The company's works are located
near the Platte River and gas works, foot of 18th street, are of brick;
they have six 300-horse power boilers, and over two miles of pipe laid
from their works. Steam was first turned on November 5th, 1880, and was a
success from the start. The American Hotel, several engines and many
offices are using the steam and declare it to be a great saving. The
company have ordered more pipes, and they will be laid and the steam
supplied in all parts of the city as soon ss possible. The company has a
capital stock of $500,000, and $100,000 has already been expended in their
works and business. We notice among the incorporators J. W. Smith,
Geo. Tritch, and E. F. Hallack. pioneer names in Colorado twenty years
ago. These men have made their fortunes in the State, and are now all
using it to introduce a steam heating system at once ample, cleanly,
pleasant, always ready and cheap.
1884 "The
Distribution of Steam in Cities," by William P. Shinn, Vice
President New York Steam Company, Transactions of the American
Institute of Mining Engineers 12:632-638 (February 1884) | also here
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Page 631: In Denver, Colorado, the system has been in use during
four years, for heating only. The company has nearly three miles of eight,
six, four and three-inch mains, and fifteen 50 horse-power boilers,
supplying 150 consumers. Upon an investment of $150,000, the company
earned net, during the season of 1882–83, $7863, or 5 2/10 per cent., and
the net savings for the season of 1883-84 were estimated at $10,000, or
62/3 per cent.
1895 John Wesley Smith (24 Sep 1815 - 16 Nov 1895) grave
1909 "Denver
Gas and Electric Company," Electrical World 54(22):1315
(November 25, 1909)
Negotiations are on foot through which the Denver Gas & Electric
Company expects to purchase the Denver City Steam Heating Company. The
stockholders of the latter corporation will meet Nov. 22 for the purpose
of voting upon the question of sale. If the transfer is made, it is the
purpose of the purchaser to erect a new plant and enter actively into the
business of furnishing steam heat to the business section of Denver. The
payment for the Steam Heating Company will, it is stated, be made by an
addition to the new stock which the reorganized Denver Gas & Electric
Light Company was about to issue. The new company will have authorized
issues of $10,000,000 in capital stock and $25,000,000 in bonds. The plan
of reorganization has been outlined heretofore in these columns.
1909 "Gas Company Deal for Heat Plant Near End," The Daily News, November 30, 1909, Page 11.
1935 The
Real Pioneers of Colorado, by Maria Davies McGrath, 3:288
JOHN W. SMITH (1860)
John W. Smith was born in Pennsylvania September 24, 1815. With his wife
and children he moved to Lancaster, Kansas, a small town 8 miles from
Atchison in 1858. For 2 years he conducted a general mercantile business
at this point. In 1860, with a wagon train loaded with merchandise for a
general store and machinery for a planning mill, a flour mill, and a
[gold-] quartz mill, he crossed the plains, reaching Denver on June 3. He
also brought with him a cash capital of about $20,000.
The quartz mill was set up on Left Hand Creek in Boulder County, the
planning mill, which was the first ever brought within the boundaries of
the present State of Colorado, was established in Denver. The flour mill,
which was a small French portable burr grist mill, he set up in Denver and
ground therein the first corn and wheat ever milled in this region. The
American House he erected in 1868 was for 10 years the largest and best
hotel in Colorado. John W. Smith, not content with but one line of
activity, was at different times in his career, merchant, miller
manufacturer, miner, irrigationist, hotel proprietor, banker, and railroad
builder. He enjoyed equal success in whatsoever pursuit he followed.
In 1883 he became ill, and his physicians advised a change of altitude. He
left Denver for Oakland, California, where he resided up to the day of his
death on November 16, 1895, at over 80 years of age.
1950 "Heating-System Expansion at Denver and use of Precast-Concrete Manholes," by Robert F. Throne, Proceedings of the National District Heating Association 41:267-274 (May 1950)
1951 "One Plant Heats 160 Downtown Buildings," The Rocky Mountain News, May 17, 1951, Page 61.
1960 Miss Steam Heat, May 1, 1960
1965 Denver City Steam Heating Company: history and development, 1879-1966, from the Denver Public Library, titled "History of Company Steam System"
1971 One hundred years of progress, Public Service Company of Colorado.
1972 "Downtown Denver Renewal Stimulates Steam Heat Business," District Heating 57(3):10-11 (Winter 1971-1972)
1976 Public Service Company of Colorado: Providing Energy for More Than a Century
1989 One
Hundred Years of Energy: Public Service Company of Colorado and Its
Predecessors, 1869-1969, by Ellen Kingman Fisher
Pages 160-161: One of the companies acquired in 1911 was the Denver
City Steam Heating Company. The steam heating operation was begun by hotel
man John W. Smith, who built the city's first flour mill, and in 1869,
Denver's first modern hotel. His hotel, the American House, located at
Sixteenth and Blake Streets, was so popular that Smith could not afford to
use valuable space for boilers to heat his establishment. Therefore,
he looked for a suitable location for the steam heating equipment, which
he found at Nineteenth and New Haven Streets near the railroad tracks and
a coal supply. After building the steam plant he constructed pipes
underground for six blocks to convey the steam to the American
House. The plant grew and demand from other businesses increased at such a
rate that on 12 December 1879 he organized the Denver City Steam Heating
Company to supply his hotel and other businesses. By the time the Denver
Gas and Electric Light Company acquired the Denver City Steam Heating
plant in 1910, it was owned by Henry M. Porter. and served much of the
business section of the city. The new company added to its capacity and
upgraded its facility.
Page 495: "History of the Company Steam System," mimeographed copy,
no date.
1990 "Increased Pressure Brings Valued Comfort to Mile High City," District Heating and Cooling 76(2):42-44, 49 (Fourth Quarter 1990)
1995 "Steam
on the Frontier: District Heating in Denver, 1880-1995,"
by Jan E. Wagner and Morris A. Pierce,
ASHRAE transactions 101:893-903, Part 1; PB: 1517 | pdf
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In late 1879 a group of Denver businessmen led by pioneer John W. Smith
incorporated the Denver City Steam Heating Company to supply heat and
power to their frontier own. The following summer they installed a Holly
district steam system, including a boiler plant and several thousand feet
of underground steam pipe laid under unpaved streets. On November 5, 1880,
the company began supplying steam to downtown Denver. Henry M. Porter,
Smith`s son-in-law, became president of the company in 1888 and replaced
the distribution system with larger pipes in anticipation of asphalt
paving. Although rarely meeting the financial expectations of its owners,
the system grew over the years and in 1909 was acquired by a predecessor
to the Public Service Company of Colorado. The Denver steam system is the
oldest commercial district heating company in the world and continues to
supply steam for heating and cooling to a large portion of downtown Denver
from its original plant location.
2008 "Denver's 128-year-old System System: 'The Best is Yet to Come," by Jan Wagner and Stephen P. Kutska, District Energy 94:(4):16-20 (Fourth Quarter 2008)
© 2024 Morris A. Pierce
Si