Did you know that Denver is known as the first city in the U.S. to introduce Christmas lights. In 1907, storekeepers along the 16th Street Mall in Denver decided to liven things up through the holidays by replacing the streetlights with red and green bulbs.In 1914, a Denver electrician, D.D. Sturgeon, decided to dip some lightbulbs in red and green paint and string them on the evergreen tree outside his 10-year-old sonís bedroom window. The young boy had been sick and could not join in the family festivities downstairs.A Denver reporter had covered the lit-up evergreen, which brought lots of publicity and people to the site. Neighbors and others came from miles away ó mainly by horse-drawn carriages ó to view the festive, colorful tree. The tree is said to be the first-ever illuminated outdoor Christmas tree.The house was located at W. 34th Avenue.The following year, Sturgeon’s neighbors caught on and decorated their trees, too. In 1918, the Denver Post reporter who originally publicized the story put together an outdoor-lighting contest, which inspired the participation of hundreds of Denver residents, as well as bulb manufacturers, to explore the creation of more affordable indoor/outdoor lighting options.In 1919, another electrician in the city expanded the lighting to the Denver Civic Center, then took it a step further with an outdoor Christmas tree in front of the Capitol building the year after that.†Across the country, the lighting phenomenon spread and inspired thousands of Americans to illuminate their own neighborhoods with colorful lights. News of Denver’s lit-up exteriors was spreading like wildfire, inspiring thousands of Americans to take their holiday spirit outside and illuminate their own neighborhoods with colorful lights. What had started as a simple effort to cheer up a bedridden boy in Colorado had become a beloved holiday trend nationwide.†In 1945, NBC aired a documentary honoring Sturgeon and the city of Denver, crediting them with the origins for the outdoor Christmas lighting tradition. By this time, Denver had already been called “The Christmas Capital of the World,” and Sturgeon was commonly referred to as “Father of Yule Lighting.” An interesting side-note: Sturgeonís house, where it all began, on W. 34th Avenue ó might have been the first ìMiracle on 34th Avenue.î
