Antique Row Soul of South Broadway

LOCAL DEALERS CHARACTER OF HISTORIC STREET

It’s that transient time of the year between the end of winter and the beginning of spring when Denver seems a little lackluster in its activities and nightlife, and Denverites are left gearing up for festivals or parties months in advance. So what is there to do in the lull between the seasons?

Annex Antiques is one of South Broadway’s many gems for antique retail. photo: Sarai Nissan • CU Denver Sentry — Annex Antiques is one of South Broadway’s many gems for antique retail.
photo: Sarai Nissan • *CU Denver Sentry*

Denver happens to harbor one of the most extensive antique districts, so renowned for its shops it has been dubbed by locals as “Antique Row.” Antique Row is the first, and perhaps only, destination for any individual embarking on their very own antique undertaking. Upon first discovering it, Antique Row is almost like stepping through the threshold of the wardrobe into Narnia—a wardrobe one of these stores might actually have.

Antique Row spans seven blocks of Broadway, from Alameda to Evans. It is not only the objects being purveyed that carry an eternal air of history. The buildings themselves are antiques, having previously been home to the Ford Motor Company, Gates Rubber Factory, and the Overland Park Race Track stables.

Most of the merchants on Antique Row have coveted and curated their stores for over 30 years. They offer high quality antiques and oddities for a price that is marvelously affordable for customers with a particular hunger for objects dating as late as the 1800s.

One of the most notable shops on Antique Row is Annex Antiques. This antique emporium is rife with vintage furniture, photographs, mirrors, jewelry, books, umbrellas, and syringes, just to name a few. It is difficult to describe the store in mere words, for its abundance of these antiquated treasures is almost overwhelming. One could spend hours diligently inspecting every room that the six local dealers have put together.

In nearly every one of these shops, one can find anything—from cabinet cards from the early 1800s, to taxidermy, to fondly decrepit photographs with an unnerving cast of mystery. The block is as satisfying for shoppers as it is for those who just want to take a glimpse into fragments of the past.

Perhaps the most alluring aspect of Antique Row is that every visit is different. Every store will have something completely novel cluttering every nook and cranny. There are always new treasures to be discovered and new stories to create.

There is nothing quite as bewitching as wandering through shelves of antiquated frames with a perfect stranger’s photo in them, a person unknown but who seems all the more tranquil. Antique row is an unsuspecting museum of the dregs of another’s history. But as the saying goes, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.