DENVER -- In Denver’s historic Five Points neighborhood the streets were deserted during President Barack Obama's inaugural address.

Indoors at barbershops, storefronts, community centers and living rooms there were small but heartfelt celebrations.

At Brother Jeff's Cultural Center, a handful of people gathered to watch the swearing-in ceremony. As Sen. Dianne Feinsten invited inaugural attendees on the National Mall to stand, so did the dozen or so people at Brother Jeff's. And as Obama took the oath of office, they chanted his name and celebrated.

"We did it! We did it! We're there!" shouted Richard Pounds, a 77-year-old Denver man who was born into segregation in Louisiana.

Pounds said he never believed there would be an African-American president and now that there is, he had just one word.

"Exhilarating! Truly exhilarating!" he exclaimed. "It just goes to show you there is change."

But along with the jubilation, there was an undercurrent of fear. Michael Rynish watched the inauguration from the chair of a barbershop. He said as a white man he was proud to sit alongside black customers at the barbershop because it showed how far the country has come.

But Rynish also said he worries about Obama's safety.

"I think we're all a little afraid," he said.

It was a sentiment that was echoed inside the barbershop.

"Yes, I'm more concerned about his safety than I ever have been before," said David Johnson as his barber took a little off the top.

Barbershop owner Franklin Stiger said his biggest concern is how Obama, saddled with sky-high expectations, will handle the country's economic problems.

"You got people that have been on jobs 15 and 20 years and getting laid off. You got companies that's folding up. There's no money in circulation, and it's rough," said Stiger.

But he and others said they believe Obama is up to the enormous hurdles that the economy will present.

"I do think there will be a turnaround," said Stiger. "I believe in that."

And some, like Brenda Carrasco, who shed tears as Obama spoke, said his presidency will help to heal the country's painful past.

"I know racial lines in America aren't gone," she said, "but they are starting to break down."