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Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Denver)

church in Colorado, United States

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ2942873 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Denver of the Roman Catholic Church. It is located at the corner of Logan Street and Colfax Avenue in the North Capitol Hill neighborhood of central Denver. It has a seating capacity of 895 persons.

Construction started on Immaculate Conception in 1901, but it was not completed until 1911. The dedication was in 1912. It underwent a major renovation in 1974 and then a project in 2016 to repair significant defects and safety hazards in the exterior walls and carvings. The cathedral was subjected to vandalism incidents in 2020 and 2021. It was elevated to a minor basilica in 1979.

History

1860 to 1900

The first Catholic church in Denver was St. Mary's Church, built in 1860 at what is now 15th and Stout streets.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Denver)” is church in Colorado, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cathedral, Basilica and Immaculate, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1901, 1911, 1912, 1974—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1921. For this dossier, Cathedral, Basilica and Immaculate is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “church in Colorado, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2942873. Authority coordinates are 39.740, -104.982. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1901, 1911, 1912 and 1974.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Denver)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Denver) primary sources, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Denver) archive and Cathedral research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Denver)”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Denver)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.