The land was purchased and developed by the Montclair Town and Improvement Company in 1885. One of its founders, Matthias P. Cochrane, originally came from Montclair, New Jersey and named the new community in its honor.  The community was originally designed to attract wealthier residents who were turned off by Denver’s “400 saloons and forty Market Street bordellos”. To this end, homeowners were required to purchase and build on lots that were twice the Denver standard size of 25 feet by 125 feet. Homes were required to be at last three stories high, made of brick or stone. In addition, town trustees had to approve all plans and saloons and alcohol were forbidden.

The community became the incorporated town of Montclair in 1888. In 1893, the crash of the silver market and the ensuing Panic of 1893 brought all development to a halt.

In 1902, the newly created City and County of Denver began to incorporate the town of Montclair. The town objected strongly to its inclusion and fought the City of Denver all the way to the State Supreme Court. Montclair lost and annexation was made final in 1903. Then-mayor Robert W. Speer eased the transition by beautifying and extending Richthofen’s system of parkways and boulevards from the central city into the suburb, planting many trees and erecting fountains and monuments. In 1907, the Montclair Improvement Association was formed to push the City of Denver into providing “graded, curbed, oiled and lighted streets, water and gas mains, a sewer system, parks and parkways and other services.”

The neighborhood boundaries are Colfax Ave to the north, 6th Ave to the south, Holly Street to the west and Quebec to the east.