Washington Park, Denver - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Geography

Washington Park is located in south central Denver. The park is long and rectangular and is bordered by Virginia Avenue on the north, Downing Street on the west, Louisiana Avenue on the south, and Franklin Street on the east. It covers 165 acre (0.6677319 km²) making it one of the largest parks in Denver.

The neighborhood generally referred to as "Wash Park" is often broken down into eastern and western sides: not only do both have their own neighborhood organizations and quite-different historical trajectories, but since 1972 official city statistics have tracked Washington Park West as separate from the easterly "Washington Park." The (eastern) Washington Park neighborhood has borders defined by the city of Denver as Downing Street, Cherry Creek

Cherry Creek (Colorado)

Cherry Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River, long, in Colorado in the United States.-Location:Cherry Creek rises in the high plateau, east of the Front Range, in northwestern El Paso County...

, I-25, and University Boulevard. The public park is located within the neighborhood.

History

Washington Park was initially designed by the German landscape architect

Landscape architecture

Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...

Reinhard Schuetze between 1899 and 1908. His design remains fairly intact and included Smith and Grasmere lakes, and the Lily Pond, all fed with a city ditch that Shuetze had edged with Russian willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

s and other trees. Other pieces of his design remain intact and include the large meadow edged with a grove of trees to the south of Smith Lake, and the carriage-ways that meander through the park.

Later landscape architects, such as Saco Rienk DeBoer

Saco Rienk DeBoer

Saco Rienk DeBoer , was a landscape architect and civic planner. He was the official Landscape Architect of Denver from 1910 to 1931. He also designed the planned community of Boulder City, Nevada. In 1919, he joined with another Dutchman, M. Walter Pesman to form a partnership...

and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.

Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.

Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. was an American landscape architect best known for his wildlife conservation efforts. He had a lifetime commitment to national parks, and worked on projects in Acadia, the Everglades and Yosemite National Park. Olmsted Point in Yosemite and Olmsted Island at Great Falls...

have added their own contributions to the park, adding the elegant boat house, an evergreen grove on the north side of the park and other additions.

Washington Park as a neighborhood started development soon after the founding of Denver though it was still fairly rural in nature. By 1886, there was enough population to create Denver's first suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

, South Denver, which by the silver bust of the 1890s was annexed into Denver due to financial difficulties. Development hastened with the creation of the park in 1899. Most of the houses were built of brick between 1900 and 1940.

Eugene Field, a reporter for the Denver Tribune between 1881 and 1883 lived in a small cottage at 315 West Colfax. Field is best remembered, though, for his children's poems. Years after Field left Denver and the house had been condemned, Molly Brown bought the house and donated it to the city. It was designated a landmark, moved to the east side of Washington Park, at Franklin St. and Exposition Ave. and restored. It served as the Eugene Field Branch of the Denver Public Library for many years. Field is further memorialized by the statue by Mabel Landrum Torrey, illustrating one of his most famous poems, Wynken, Blynken and Nod. In the 1970s the house became the headquarters of the Park People and the library moved to a new building at University Blvd. and Exposition Ave.

Recently, Washington Park has become a very popular urban neighborhood because of its central location, its closeness to the park, and its access to several commercial business enclaves. This has led to a transformation of the neighborhood, which worries some residents because of an increased density, more traffic, and the propensity of some developers to scrape historic homes and replace them with denser luxury duplexes, town-homes, or other development.

Characteristics

The park includes several trails, including one that goes around the perimeter of the park, tennis courts, a lawn bowling/croquet field, and two playgrounds. A recreation center with an indoor pool, free weights, and other athletic facilities is also located in the park. Smith Lake has a boathouse that can be rented out for various events.

The park is also known for its flower gardens, which include 54 flower beds in an informal arrangement. One garden is an exact replica of Martha Washington's

Martha Washington

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...

garden at Mt. Vernon

Mount Vernon (plantation)

Mount Vernon, located near Alexandria, Virginia, was the plantation home of the first President of the United States, George Washington. The mansion is built of wood in neoclassical Georgian architectural style, and the estate is located on the banks of the Potomac River.Mount Vernon was designated...

.

The Washington Park neighborhood is one of the oldest in Denver and includes many early twentieth century brick houses. There are several commercial enclaves in the neighborhood such as South Gaylord Street and Alameda Avenue. The South Pearl Street area, in the neighboring Platt Park neighborhood, is frequently misidentified as being part of the Washington Park neighborhood.

The neighborhood borders I-25, which was recently expanded and includes the RTD light rail

TheRide

RTD Bus & Light Rail is a transit system in the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area. It is operated by the Regional Transportation District . It currently operates 101 local, 13 limited, 24 express, 16 regional, and 6 skyRide bus routes...

. The Louisiana/Pearl station

Louisiana/Pearl (RTD)

Louisiana/Pearl is an island platformed RTD light rail station in Denver, Colorado, United States. Operating as part of the E, F and H Lines, the station was opened on November 17, 2006, and is operated by the Regional Transportation District. It primarily serves the Washington Park and Platt Park...

and University of Denver

University of Denver (RTD)

University of Denver is an island platformed RTD light rail station in Denver, Colorado, United States. Operating as part of the E, F and H Lines, the station was opened on November 17, 2006, and is operated by the Regional Transportation District...

stations connect the southern part of the Washington Park neighborhood with light rail network. To the south the park itself borders South High School

South High School (Denver)

South High School is a high school in the Washington Park neighborhood on the south side of Denver, Colorado. It is part of Denver Public Schools.-History:...

External links

Washington Park Denver

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