Julia Greeley Boarding House, 2911 Walnut St.

While hard to recognize today, this commercial building was once the boarding house of Julia Greeley, known as Denver’s Angel of Charity in the 1870s and 1880s. Greeley had been enslaved until Missouri’s Emancipation Act of 1865. Greeley came to Denver in the 1870s and worked for white families, giving all she could to assist poor families in her neighborhood. If her own resources were not adequate she spent time begging for food, fuel or clothing for those who needed it. Julia conducted most of her charitable work at night to avoid embarrassing those she helped. She was also a member of the Catholic Church and was known for her enthusiastic devotion. She became a member of the Sacred Heart Parish in Denver in 1880 and joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1901, where she was active until her death in 1918. When she died, her body was laid out at Loyola Chapel, 2536 Ogden St, and hundreds came to pay their respects.