On your right is the Daniels and Fisher Tower, and it still knows how to pull focus. Back in 1910, this thing shot up to 325 feet… which made it the tallest building anywhere between the Mississippi River and California. Denver didn’t just want a clocktower. Denver wanted a statement.
Architect Frederick Sterner took his inspiration straight from Venice’s St. Mark’s bell tower. So yeah, this is Denver doing its best Italian accent… and honestly, it works. Look up and you’ll spot the clock faces on all four sides, perched on a 20-story shaft like it’s keeping an eye on the whole neighborhood.
In 1911 they hoisted a 5,500-pound bell into the top floors… about the weight of a full-grown rhinoceros, give or take. It was made in Baltimore, had a 150-pound clapper, and an electric motor that rang the hour like it had somewhere to be. The bell even has a dedication inscription from William Cooke Daniels and Cicely Cook Daniels… a very classy way of saying, “We bought the bell. You’re welcome.”
The tower’s seen its share of drama. In 1918, a stunt climber nicknamed “the human fly” scaled it in 38 minutes. And in 1929, a student nurse fell from the twentieth floor and somehow landed on a balcony three floors down… surviving, but badly hurt… and heartbreakingly, not found for two days.
When the old store came down around 1971, the tower got spared, renovated in 1981, and today it even hides the Clocktower Cabaret downstairs. Not bad for a building that refused to leave.
When you’re set, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Denver Branch is a 2-minute walk heading southwest.
