Walking Past History In Denver

I recently took the above photograph of a row of buildings in Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo) that were built back in 1863, right after a fire that devastated the area.  I really never paid much attention to them until I read the plaque on the building on the far right, stating that it was originally owned by Barney Ford, a former slave born in 1822, who operated the People's Restaurant on the ground floor and a barber shop in the basement.  The building on the far left was also built in 1863 and housed a saloon and boarding house.  Long before this area was a hipster hangout, my friend Stuart and I would sometimes dine at a restaurant called The Firehouse, directly across the street from that building.  At the time it was some kind of costume store, and as we consumed our beers and burgers, we would stare at the facade, which was covered with weird, scary murals. The building second from the right, by the way, started out as the Empire Bakery, and according to an online article, is one of the few buildings in LoDo that have remained mostly unchanged since 1863.  For more details, be sure to check out that article at http://www.hometodenver.com/1526_blakestreet.htm.