The Cheesman Park area was originally claimed as a cemetery in 1858 by General Larimer and encompassed approximately 120 acres. The claim included what is now Cheesman Park, the Botanic Gardens, the city water reservoirs and Congress Park. In 1870, the federal government disavowed all ownership claims and declared the land federal property. The City of Denver then bought the land for use as the City Cemetery. The Catholic Church purchased 40 acres from the city in the area of the present Botanic Gardens. After selling half their holdings to Samuel Morgan, they established their own cemetery on the east section of the land.

Because of a lack of water, City Cemetery was never the glorious park-like setting that Larimer had envisioned. When Riverside Cemetery, opened in 1876, City Cemetery became little used and, by the late 1880s had fallen into disrepair. With the development of the city eastward, Denver lobbied Congress to change the land use from cemetery to park. In 1890 Congress consented and the area was named Congress Park in recognition of their cooperation.

For many years the area was a park in name only. The majority of the graves, most being in the area of present day Cheesman Park, were removed in 1893, but it was not until 1898 that landscaping plans were made and the park began to take shape. In 1907, upon the death of local millionaire Walter Cheesman, the Cheesman family offered to donate a Greek pavilion to the city in exchange for the park being named in hi honor - the city consented. The pavilion, completed in 1910, became a place to enjoy live entertainment during summer evenings. The Cheesman area became a popular suburban neighborhood for the children of the Capitol Hill elite. Here they imitated the flamboyant houses of their parents, with a more stately elegance.

Cheesman Park prospered in the early years of the twentieth century but the "great depression" hit Denver hard and by the late 1930s many of the large homes had been subdivided into apartments. Following World War II, apartment buildings sprouted up throughout the neighborhood. In the 1960s, the development of high rise condominium complexes began to the north and west of the park, cutting off the view of the mountains. The irate neighborhood organized to halt further construction and The Cheesman Park Mountain View Ordinance, preventing further blocking of the view by soaring buildings, was enacted in the late 1960's.

In the 1950s, Denver decided to build a Botanic Garden. The Catholic Cemetery was rarely used, and in 1950, Denver persuaded the Church to return the land to the city. The city agreed to move the remaining graves to Mount Olivet Cemetery. The Botanic Gardens took over the area in 1959 and the Boettcher Conservatory was constructed in 1964. The grounds have twenty-one acres of gardens including the internationally recognized Alpine Rock garden.

There are two historic districts in the Cheesman Park Neighborhood: "Humboldt Island," which runs along Humboldt Street between Tenth and Twelfth Avenues, and "Morgan's Addition," which runs along Ninth Avenue between Race and York Streets. "Humboldt Island" was built mainly between 1900 and the 1920s. The two blocks have some of Denver's most stately homes designed be Denver's leading architects. "Morgan's" was part of the original land sale from the Catholic Church. One of the more noteworthy homes in this area is the Botanic Gardens House at Ninth Avenue and York Street. It was built be Richard Campbell in 1926 and later purchased by Dr. and Mrs. James Waring who donated the house and the land to the Botanic Gardens. The homes in Morgan's Addition are of a later period than Humboldt Island, but are similar in architecture.