Do you know the significance of your home or neighborhood? Do you understand how the character of West Washington Park was shaped, know the residents who played prominent roles in Denver history, or how strange events here have repeated themselves over the last 100 years?

No one could blame you if you didn't. History in West Washington Park has been a remarkably muted affair. And it's a shame, because we have a rather colorful past to celebrate.

See attachment for the full article.

Would you like to learn more about the history of the area... and whether your block may have historic preservation potential? Check out the attached 2002 survey by Barbara Norgren et al. You might be surprised!

See attachment for complete study.

The April-June 2002 issue of the WWPNA newsletter indicated that a committee was being organized to discuss historic designation for the neighborhod. While the plans were abandoned, it's important to recognize that this is a recurrent theme in WWPNA history.

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Historic Designation

All across central Denver, neighbors are meeting with neighbors to determine how they can have a voice in the way their neighborhoods will look in the future. The challenge is balancing the need for larger single family homes with the desire for residents to maintain the existing character of their block. Our neighbors to the north and west, Alamo Placita and Baker, have already been designated landmark districts while East Wash Park and Country club are currently working on it. Landmark district designation basically stops scrape-offs and provides for design review for additions and pop-tops to blend in with the existing character of the block. Review of additions that cannot be seen from the street is far less restrictive and yes, you can paint your house purple if you want.

A neighborhood committee has been exploring the feasibility of this and other options that include a zoning overlay district that could include design or open space guidelines, down zoning portions of the neighborhood from R-3 to R-2, listing on the national and/or state register as a historic district(s) and finally, implementation of planning tools established by Blueprint Denver, the proposed citywide land use and transportation plan.

In June 1993, the WWPNA Newsletter included an article by resident Marla Kiley called "Time Capsule on Logan." It's valuable not only as a record of the past, but also as a guide for what others may do to discover history in their own WWP home:

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… We bought our house on Logan Street in April of 1991. It was built in 1896 and converted to apartments sometime around 1934-5. Then in 1965, as we were to find out, it was reconverted to a house only to again be made back into apartments a few years later. Kevin and I decided to turn it back to a house, permanently and give it a makeover on a limited budget, which required us to do the remodeling ourselves.

April 30, 1991 was the day the wall came tumbling down, literally. We took out the wall that separated the apartments and to our surprise found a time capsule wrapped in wax paper wedged between two pieces of wood in the door frame.

Curious, we stopped our demolition activities to examine the contents. Inside was a newspaper dated October 18, 1965 along with letters from the people who once occupied the house. The Taggart family – Loretta and Thomas with their children Steven, Frank, and twins Rodney and Robin, plus grandparents the Townsends – each wrote a letter to the finder of the capsule. Although I’m sure they hoped the letter would be found many years in the future, we enjoyed it thoroughly. A brief history of the house and a list of its past owners was enclosed along with the price of the house in 1959, $10,500, which of course made us weep when we looked at our own bank note.

In March 1984, the WWPNA Newsletter included a news item on smoking in supermarkets, which seems both timely (as Denver adjusts to the smoking ban in virtually all bars, restaurants, and workplaces) and timeless.

Read it below.

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Ban Smoking in Supermarkets?

An ordinance that would help stop smoking in grocery stores will be reintroduced this spring to City Council. It is a redrafted one that requires posted signs that smoking the store is unlawful. The health department would monitor the postings but the revision I have seen has no fines. Call Gertie at 333-4224 or 744-3882 for information.

Some people think it’s not enough. Others think it’s too much regulation, and that people are polite enough to put out cigarettes if asked. I tried the other day waiting in the checkout line. The smoker did extinguish the cigarette after blowing a lungful of smoke in my face. Maybe I wasn’t polite enough.