Ivywild, Colorado

Ivywild, Colorado, is a subdivision of Colorado Springs south of the downtown, west of Cascade Avenue and along Cheyenne Creek.[1] It is one of the city's oldest working-class neighborhoods.[2]

Early history

Before Europeans settled in the area, Cheyenne set up tepees at the confluence of the Fountain and Cheyenne Creeks when they traveled through the area. About 1859, Irving Howbert and his family settled near the creeks.[3] The following year, John Wolfe settled along Cheyenne Creek.[4]

William B. Jenkins
(1848-1917) 		Anne Maria Iles Jenkins
(1861-1940)

Ivywild was established in 1888 and platted by William B. Jenkins, a rancher and miner, who created 43 lots when he subdivided his ranch. His wife Annie named the town.[3][5] She was a large stockholder of Ramona Mining Company. Her father, William Iles, was the owner of Manitou Springs first hotel, La Font.[6] Ivywild had a post office by January 1892.[7]

The Ivywild Improvement Society held annual meetings by 1898, when they discussed the high water rates and taxes.[8][lower-alpha 1] The organization filed suits in 1917 regarding public utility service to the community.[11] Dorchester Park was named for Joseph Dorchester, a water rights attorney, who established water rights for Cheyenne Canon and Ivywild. The Iowa native operated a hay farm after having settled in the area in 1874. The park is located across the creek from the site of Dorchester's farm.[3]

John H. Bacon, a mayor of Colorado Springs in 1880, lived in Ivywild by 1900.[12][13][lower-alpha 2]

Early 20th century

The Ivywild Elementary School was founded in 1901 with two bungalow buildings until 1916 when a brick building was constructed. The two bungalows were moved, one became the Edelweiss Restaurant and the other the Ivywild Presbyterian Church.[15]

In 1902, Winfield Scott Stratton (1848-1902) and Thomas Burns purchased 10 acres along Cheyenne Boulevard from William B. Jenkins for $16,000 (equivalent to $436,123 in 2015). The equal partners purchased the land for the construction of baseball park called Boulevard Park,[16] which was completed following Stratton's death. Boulevard Park was on the Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway's electric trolley route.[17] The Colorado Springs Millionaires baseball team played at the park, often known as Base Ball Park, that sat 3,500 people. The park, about 5 minutes on the trolley from the center of town, was just west of Jenkins Pond (now Tejon Street and Cheyenne Boulevard).[18]

Residents of Ivywild met at Jenkin's house on South Nevada Avenue to discuss creation of a local government in 1902, when the community was governed by El Paso County, Colorado. It was reported that the time was right because "the growth of the pretty suburb has been steady."[19] Plans were made later that year to begin to incorporate the town.[20]

John Coughlin, a ward boss from Chicago, bought property in 1903 to invest in Ivywild development.[21] He donated a carriage with fire equipment to the town in 1904.[22] Coughlin built an amusement park, Cheyenne Springs Park and Zoo, at Alsace Way and 8th Street in 1906 at the cost of $75,000 (equivalent to $1,968,611 in 2015).[3][23] A play entitled, Ivywild: The True Story of John "Bathhouse" Coughlin has been written about the man.[3]

Charles Maddocks, who built houses in Ivywild from wood salvaged from Nikola Tesla's laboratory, bought Boulevard Park in 1904 when the Millionaires dissolved. He built bungalows, including Sears and other mail order homes.[3] The Ivywild Pharmacy and Ivywild Grocery and Market were both doing business by 1916.[24]

Annexation

In 1960, Ivywild had 10,608 residents and was part of the 17,713 population of Cheyenne Mountain Division, was a census county division in El Paso County, Colorado.[25] In 1977, residents voted not to create a village called Cheyenne Mountain by consolidating the towns of Broadmoor, Skyway, Cheyenne Canon, and Ivywild.[26]

A General Assembly bill in 1978 proposed consolidation of the suburbs into Colorado Springs.[27] Ivywild was one of five Colorado Springs suburbs annexed into Colorado Springs in 1980. The others were Broadmoor, Skyway, Cheyenne Canon, and Stratton Meadows. The annexation added 6.5 square miles (17 km2) and 20,000 people to the city's total area and population. The Colorado Supreme Court upheld the annexation in 1982.[28]

Ivywild School mixed-use center

The Ivywild Elementary School and Ivywild Community Church closed in 2009.[1] The former elementary school was made into a multi-use commercial and community center called Ivywild School in 2013. The remodeled 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) building has a delicatessen, brewery, pub, bakery, coffee shop, gift shop, and architectural office. The project was partially funded by the city under an urban renewal project.[15]

Park

Ivywild Park, located at Navajo and Dorchester, was dedicated in 2005. The funding for the only neighborhood park in Ivywild was provided by a federal grant.[29][2]

Notable people

Notes

  1. ↑ In 1914, The Gazette reported that an improvement society was to be created for Ivywild to be properly prepared to manage a fire.[9] The Gazette reported in 2007 that the Ivywild Improvement Society was founded in 1915.[10]
  2. ↑ Bacon committed suicide at his Ivywild house in January 1904 at 70 years of age. He had been suffering from poor physical and mental health.[14]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bill Vogrin (September 28, 2009). "Resident recalls a gentler Ivywild". The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado). Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Briefly Metro". The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado). October 14, 2005. Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Bill Vogrin (January 11, 2015). "Ivywild comes alive thanks to two women". The Gazette. p. 23. Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via Pikes Peak Library District.
  4. ↑ "John Wolfe, Early Settler, Is Dead". The Gazette. August 10, 1909. p. 5:5. Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via Pikes Peak Library District.
  5. ↑ William Bright (2004). Colorado Place Names. Big Earth Publishing. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-55566-333-9.
  6. ↑ "Mrs. Annie H. Jenkins, Widow of Founder of Ivywild, Dies in Westcliffe; Funeral Here". The Gazette (Colorado Springs). July 24, 1940. p. 1:6. Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via Pikes Peak Library District.
  7. ↑ United States Official Postal Guide. U.S. Government Printing Office. January 1892. p. 509.
  8. ↑ "Ivywild Improvement". The Weeklly Gazette. March 15, 1898. p. 3-2. Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via Pikes Peak Library District.
  9. ↑ "Ivywild Citizens Seek Projection Against Fire". The Weeklly Gazette. March 1, 1914. p. 5-2. Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via Pikes Peak Library District.
  10. ↑ Bill Vogrin (January 4, 2007). "Archivist hopes to document modern Springs for the future". The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado). Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  11. ↑ Colorado Public Utilities Commission (1917). Annual Report. pp. 33, 49.
  12. ↑ "Col. Bacon's residence, Cheyenne Canon, Colorado Springs". Denver Public Library. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  13. ↑ Colorado Springs City Council; John R. Robinson (1902). Town incorporation, city organization and reorganization, also classification as city of the first class. City Council. p. 185.
  14. ↑ "John H. Bacon A Suicide: Wealthy Resident of Colorado Springs Takes His Own Life". The New York Herald. January 18, 1904. p. 7. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Rich Laden (August 16, 2013). "Colorado Springs' Ivywild School Celebrates New Life as a Mixed-Use Commercial Center". The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado). Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  16. ↑ "Stratton and Burns - Buy Boulevard Park". The Weekly Gazette (Colorado Springs). March 13, 1902. p. 11. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  17. ↑ Allan C. Lewis (2006). Railroads of the Pike's Peak Region, 1900-1930. Arcadia Publishing. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-7385-3125-0.
  18. ↑ Dennis Pajot (29 August 2011). Baseball's Heartland War, 1902-1903: The Western League and American Association Vie for Turf, Players and Profits. McFarland. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-0-7864-8904-6.
  19. ↑ "A Town Government is Proposed for Ivywild". The Weekly Gazette (Colorado Springs). March 20, 1902. p. 11. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Will Incorporate Town of Ivywild". The Weekly Gazette (Colorado Springs). November 20, 1902. p. 5:1. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Johnson Tract in Ivywild Will Become New Chicago". The Gazette. January 4, 1903. p. 1-5. Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via Pikes Peak Library District.
  22. ↑ "Ivywild Gets Fire Apparatus". The Gazette. July 24, 1904. p. 5-2. Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via Pikes Peak Library District.
  23. ↑ "Coney Island Resort in Ivywild to Cost $75,000". The Gazette. January 5, 1906. p. 1-1. Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via Pikes Peak Library District.
  24. ↑ Colorado. Bureau of Labor Statistics (1916). "El Paso County - Mercantile Lists". Biennial Report. The Bureau. p. 112.
  25. ↑ "Number of Inhabitants - Colorado". Table 7. Population of Counties, By Census County Divisions: 1960. US Census Bureau, US Government Printing Office. p. 7-1, 7-16 (map). Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Consolidation of four suburbs". Western History. Denver Public Library. November 16, 1977. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Consolidation of four suburbs: Analysis of General Assembly Bill". Western History. Denver Public Library. January 22, 1978. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  28. ↑ Bill Vogrin (May 20, 2007). "Annexation -- an issue that doesn't go away". The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado). Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  29. ↑ Ed Sealover (December 26, 2004). "After struggle, Ivywild gets place to play Community park is ready to build after 11 years". The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado). Retrieved January 25, 2015 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  30. ↑ David Roberts (31 December 2003). Jean Stafford. St. Martin's Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-312-30217-7.

Further reading

External links

External images
Images of Colonel John H. Bacon's Ivywild property (1890-1900), Denver Public Library
Colorado Midland Railway engine and cars through Ivywild, Pikes Peak Library District
Ivywild after the May 1935 flood, Pikes Peak Library District
South entrance to Colorado Springs, Ivywild sign in lower left (1965), Pikes Peak Library District

Coordinates: 38°48′38″N 104°50′07″W / 38.81056°N 104.83528°W