The street is named after Mayor Robert Speer. Mayor Speer envisioned Denver to be the “Paris on the Platte”, with sophistication and culture. Speer did not want to merely build a city, but a beautiful city, filled with trees, parks and public infrastructure. His four part “City Beautiful” plan, which was modeled after the national trend, began with the construction of the Civic Center Park. He followed with the City and County building. A large network of tree-lined parkways, connecting the city’s residential neighborhoods were added afterwards.

Mayor Speer’s City Beautiful parks can be noticed as one travels through Speer Boulevard.