Welcome to our online tour of the historic Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company Headquarters building in Denver, Colorado. We call it “Colorado’s Bell System Palace,” and it was finished shortly before the 1929 Crash of Wall Street and the beginning of the Great Depression. Never again would a company build such an homage to the power of industry and technology. Take this online tour and discover for yourself why we make this claim.

Located at the corner of 14th and Curtis streets in downtown Denver, Colorado, the building is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built from Colorado materials and features Art Deco murals depicting the history of communications by Colorado artist Allen Tupper True. Because it is still a working telephone central office, however, public access is limited.

With the aid of a grant from the Colorado State Historical Fund, we have constructed this online tour to allow the public to view the building. Discover the site’s history before the building was built; learn about the influence of business and technology on its structure; find out about the employees who provided telephone service to Denver; and see how the technology has changed through the years.

We have also included educational resources for both students and teachers. For students, we have activities and games. For teachers we have sample lesson plans and links to other resources, including information on information on how phones work, history of the Bell System, cultural collision, how people communicated without telephones, art and history, and more!

There is much to learn about the 931 14th St. Historic Building. This online tour of the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company Headquarters building provides information on the building site’s history, local communications history, the architecture and construction of the building, an in-depth look at the Allen Tupper True murals, and a floor-by-floor tour of the building as it was in 1929 and as it is today. For more information 931 14th St. Historic Building or to visit our Denver Archives, click here. Enjoy!