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Setting and Boundaries
Washington Park sits in south-central Denver. The public park is a long rectangle bordered by Virginia Avenue, Downing Street, Louisiana Avenue, and Franklin Street. It measures one mile by a quarter-mile and covers 165 acres.
The broader area known as Wash Park is commonly described in eastern and western sections. City statistics have treated Washington Park West separately from eastern Washington Park since 1972. The eastern neighborhood is defined by Downing Street, Cherry Creek, I-25, and University Boulevard.
Park Layout and Recreation
The park includes Smith Lake, Grasmere Lake, the Lily Pond, a large meadow, tennis courts, a lawn bowling green, playgrounds, and a recreation center with an indoor pool and athletic facilities. Paths serve walkers, bicyclists, roller bladers, skateboarders, strollers, pet walkers, and rented surreys.
Smith Lake has a boathouse that can be rented for events, and wedding receptions are often held in the historic boathouse pavilion. The park also hosts community gatherings, including the annual Furry Scurry.
Gardens and Landscape Features
Washington Park is known for its flower gardens. The Perennial Garden was completed at Downing in 1918, and Mt. Vernon Gardens followed in 1926. One garden is an exact replica of Martha Washington’s garden at Mt. Vernon.
The park’s landscape includes groves of trees, meadows, lakeshores, carriage ways, pedestrian paths, and bridges over City Ditch. Views of the Front Range mountains are visible from intervals among the planted trees.
History and Design
German landscape architect Reinhard Schuetze designed the park between 1899 and 1908, with Smith and Grasmere lakes, the Lily Pond, meadows, trees, and curving carriage ways included in the plan. Later work involved George Kessler, Saco Rienk DeBoer, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., and the Olmsted Brothers.
The boating pavilion was built in 1913 in an Italian architectural style. The Field House, once the residence of poet and journalist Eugene Field, was moved to the park’s northeast edge by Molly Brown in 1930 and later served as the Eugene Field Branch of the Denver Public Library.
Neighborhood Character
Development in the neighborhood began soon after Denver’s founding, while the area was still rural. South Denver became Denver’s first suburb by 1886 and was later annexed into Denver after financial difficulties during the silver bust of the 1890s. Development increased after the park was created in 1899.
Many neighborhood houses were built of brick between 1900 and 1940, with some late nineteenth-century brick houses in West Washington Park. Commercial areas include South Gaylord Street, Alameda Avenue, and smaller corner store areas at former streetcar stops.
What it is like
Washington Park, known locally as “Wash Park,” is in Denver 80209, with Historic South Gaylord Street four blocks west and South Pearl Street nearby. The area is described as a break from busy downtown with a Rockwellian feel, lush landscaping, awning-covered storefronts and a family-friendly atmosphere.
Sources: Washington Park, Denver (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA); visitdenver.com