A 1906 postcard shows the Zoo's "Stockade," a large steel barred enclosure
housing the bears as seen below. Once, you could drive by the enclosure which
stood just south of Bear Mountain. To the right of the bicyclist one can see the
stack of logs for the bears, once again seen below.

A 1913 postcard shows an early start to Denver Zoo, then known as
City Park Zoo, Denver. In 1914 the Zoo took a modest step toward
informing the public by placing a series of clearly lettered educational
signs near the appropriate animal.




Denver Zoo was an early participant in the nationwide effort to save the
American bison from extinction. (Photo from 1938.) As the 20th century
opened, there were fewer than 2,000 specimens of the American
Bison extant. In 1899, the Zoo purchased six "buffaloes" from
Kansas City and transported them to City Park by rail and wagon. Later,
according to a 1912 Denver Municipal Facts, "the herd is composed of
fifteen and is one of the largest in existence."




A weekly Denver publication known as Denver Municipal Facts highlights the
construction of the Zoo's Bear Mountain in 1918.





In a circa 1930 photo, King and Queen, two female polar bears frolic
on a log cabin in the Bear Mountain exhibit. (The black and white photo
was hand tinted.)






This map in the Zoological Foundation's first publication made in 1953,
shows the basic layout of the zoo had changed little since the completion
of Bear Mountain over three decades earlier in 1918. (Click the map for a
larger version.) The colorful pennant is from the same time period.




A 1960s post card of the western themed train in the Children's Zoo.
Bear Mountain stands in the background.



1970s Denver Zoo staff patch with the pronghorn at center.




A 1960 photo of inside the glass covered Palm House, which originally,
was a 1940s era greenhouse converted by Zoo Director Clyde E. Hill for
free-flying birds. Later the glass was removed and converted to an
exhibit for raptors.




A 1972 slide of the front entrance sign for Denver Zoo.




1987 sticker promoting Denver Zoo's construction
of Northern Shores.




In 1994, hand-raised polar bear cubs Klondike and Snow created a
nationwide bear sensation.