CH-95-10-2 -- Steam on the Frontier. District Heating in Denver, 1880-1995 PDF

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 town. 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.

KEYWORDS: year 1995, steam, district heating, district cooling, history, USA