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Washington Park
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Smith Lake and the 1913 Boat House in Washington Park in Denver.
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| Location: | Denver, Colorado |
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| Built: | 1899 |
| Architect: | Reinhard Schuetze, among others |
| Architectural style: | Prairie School, Bungalow/Craftsman, Italianate |
| Governing body: | Local |
| NRHP Reference#: | 86002238 [1] |
| Added to NRHP: | September 17, 1986 |
Washington Park is a neighborhood and public urban park in Denver, Colorado.
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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 acres (0.67 km2) making it one of the largest parks in Denver.[2]
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, I-25, and University Boulevard. The public park is located within the neighborhood.[3]
Washington Park was initially designed by the German landscape architect 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 willows 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 and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. 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, 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.[4]
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.
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 garden at Mt. Vernon.[2]
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. The Louisiana/Pearl station and University of Denver stations connect the southern part of the Washington Park neighborhood with light rail network. To the south the park itself borders South High School.