PARK AND CEMETERY. 
VIEW IN PLATT PARK, DENVER. 
Long, Frederick S. Titsworth, Carl A. 
Johnson, E. W. Robinson, H. McNerney, 
secretary, and F. C. Steinhauer, general 
superintendent. 
Denver, with 213,000 inhabitants (ac- 
cording to the last official census), situated 
at the foot of the Rockies, just one mile 
above sea level, has been rightly named 
the “Queen City of the Plains,” being a 
city of beautiful homes, fine public build- 
ings and numerous parks. Thirty years 
ago we had no parks, while today we can 
boast of thirty of these public “breathing 
places,” comprising 1,240 acres, besides 
which we have ten playgrounds comprising 
a total of 23 acres, also many miles of 
parkways and boulevards, the city main- 
taining a total of 56 acres in parking along 
these drives. 
In addition to the above, the Park De- 
partment has within the past year acquired 
over 1,000 acres in the mountains acces- 
sible to Denver, and within the next five 
years this acreage may incerase to 30,000, 
as the city is now obtaining options on 
many thousand acres and the government 
has been requested to withhold from entry 
many sections of land that are desirable 
for mountain parks. First and foremost in 
the minds of those who fostered the plan 
of establishing these mountain parks was 
the idea of preserving the natural areas of 
pine and spruce in such close proximity 
to Denver, to the cool fastnesses of which 
her citizens could make frequent trips, en- 
joying a magnificent view’ all the way — the 
plains on one side, the mountains on the 
other — and with this in view, the Park De- 
partment is already engaged in making fine 
roads to these natural beauty spots. 
Denver’s largest park, exclusive of those 
in the mountains, is City Park, which com- 
prises 400 acres. Here are located the 
greenhouses, zoo, children’s playground, 
baseball, golf and polo grounds, tennis 
courts, the grandstand and track of the 
Gentlemen’s Driving Club, and the Carter 
Museum of Natural History. During the 
summer the city furnishes at City Park a 
band of thirty-five pieces, besides a vocal- 
ist, for each evening of the week and also 
for Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The 
electric fountain, located in the lake at 
City Park and one of its important fea- 
tures, is operated each evening and free 
moving pictures are shown. One or two 
magnificent fireworks displays each season 
are also provided at this park. The lake 
here is very popular for boating, and over 
a hundred boats are obtainable at a nom- 
inal fee. On Sundays, in addition to that 
furnished at City Park, music is provided 
at three other parks — -Washington, Lincoln 
and Berkeley. 
Beaches have been made and bath houses 
erected at Washington and Berkeley parks, 
and to those bringing suits the privileges 
of bath house and beach are free, while to 
those who must rent a suit only the small 
fee of 10 or 15 cents is charged. On one 
day this summer as many as 3,000 availed 
themselves of the opportunity of bathing 
in Washington Park alone. From either of 
these beaches the snow-capped mountains 
are always visible. 
Cheesman Park (80 acres) is our formal 
park, from which we have an unobstructed 
view of the mountain range from Pike’s 
Peak to Long’s Peak, a distance of over 
ICO miles. In two of the smaller parks 
branch public libraries have been erected 
at a cost of $18,000 each. 
The city of Denver in 1912 completed 
the purchase of a site for a civic center 
at a cost of approximately $2,000,000 for 
property alone. In October, 1912, the Park 
Commission secured the services of Olm- 
sted Brothers and Arnold W. Brunner, 
who have prepared plans for the improve- 
ment of this property. The preliminary 
grading is now under way, and when com- 
pleted our civic center will compare favor- 
ably with other well-known civic centers. 
The most noticeable feature to visitors in 
our parks is the decidedly green and fresh 
appearance of the grass. This is entirely 
due to the constant irrigation which is ab- 
solutely necessary to keep the grass alive 
in this dry climate, and which is our largest 
item of expense in the maintenance of the 
parks. Another fact which will be noted 
in our parks, and which is due to the dry 
atmosphere, is the limited variety of trees 
which really thrive well here. 
The roadways and walks within our 
parks will at once attract the eye of the 
close observer of this feature of park de- 
velopment, for in place of the usual oiled, 
paved or macadam roadway and walks a 
thin coating of fine, clean sand makes for 
PARK ROAD ON GENESEE MOUNTAIN, DENVER, UNDER CONSTRUC- 
TION. SNOW CAPPED MOUNTAINS IN THE DISTANCE. 
