Wild for Denver Real Estate

The City Park neighborhood is located on 3 sides of City Park; the north, west and south sides. No matter which side you are on, you have gorgeous park views and wonderful access to so many activities. In the park there are walking/biking trails, tennis courts, a playground, two lakes– one with a boat house hosting water activities, and plenty of beautifully groomed grounds and shady trees. Also, located in the park is the famous Denver Zoo, City Park Golf Course, the Gates Planetarium and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. In the summer, the park is home to many festivals and a free summer music concert series. City Park south architecture is primarily Denver Squares while City Park West has small Victorians and Bungalow. To the north, are Tudor styles and many Mid-century Ranch style homes.

City Park neighborhood boundaries are Colorado Blvd. to the east, Colfax Ave. to the south, Franklin St. to the west and 29th Ave. to the north. (City Park West actually blends into another neighborhood called ‘Uptown’)

Check out this walking tour of the City Park neighborhood!

*History of City Park

When Denver was founded in 1858, it was little more than a mining camp. By the 1870s however, Denver had gained a substantial permanent population, and many residents were clamoring for parks. In 1878, the Colorado state legislature passed a bill to allow Denver to acquire 1,280 acres of state land to build parks. City Park became the largest tract turned into a park. The initial park layout was designed by Henry Meryweather in 1882 in the tradition of both English pastoral gardens and Central Park in New York City with a flowing, casual design. The 1893 World’s Fair started the City Beautiful movement, which further developed the design. The park was irrigated with water from the city ditch.

By the turn of the century, Ferril Lake, the Denver Zoo, and the landmark boat pavilion, with a Spanish-style design by architects John Humphreys and William Fisher were all developed in the park. Reinhard Schuetze, a German immigrant who was the head landscaper for Denver, formalized the design of the park through the planting of formal gardens, the East High School Esplanade onto the park, and graceful carriage-ways. In 1908, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science was built on the eastern edge of the park on the highest elevation in the park (now famous for its views of downtown and the mountains behind them).

On April 23, 1916, The Shakespeare Elm was planted near the intersection of 17th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. A plaque at its base reads “Shakespeare Elm: The scion from which this tree was grown was taken from the tree at Shakespeare’s grave at Stratford-on-Avon”.

City Park sat a mile away from the rest of Denver when it was first opened. Competing trolley companies took park-goers along the undeveloped roads into the park. The neighborhood developed around the park, starting with farmers and squatters who used the city ditch to irrigate their crops. It wasn’t until the turn of the century with better trolley connections that housing development occurred en force. The neighborhood includes East High School, a landmark built in 1925, which is Denver’s first high school (moved from downtown). The neighborhood also contains many historic brick residential buildings, including many Denver square style homes and several historic brick commercial structures, especially along Colfax Avenue.

*Information from Wikipedia, City Park, Denver