Edgewood Neighbors

Historic Project Explores Lakewood's Oldest Neighborhoods

Nov 15, 2001

Have you ever wondered about the history of your neighborhood? The northeast corner of Lakewood, from Sheridan to Wadsworth, contains the city's oldest neighborhoods. The area has evolved greatly over the years. Originally rural countryside scattered with a few farmhouses, by the 1950s the area contained rows of cottage camps, motels, and motor courts, as well as filling stations, restaurants and gift shops that catered to travelers and visitors. The area also blossomed with block after block of family homes for veterans returning from World War II. By this time, West Colfax Avenue had also become Lakewood's commercial downtown.
The West Colfax corridor and its surrounding neighborhoods have a rich and interesting story to tell. A project is presently underway to investigate and document the history of the Edgewood and Two Creeks areas, north and south of West Colfax, and to identify the historic places that represent that history.
The project will produce a history report that covers the various aspects of this diverse area, such as vegetable gardening, fruit orchards, poultry and dairy faminig, early residential subdivisions; the tuberculosis sanitariums, the 1907 Colorado Golf Club, now known as the Lakewood Country Club; the Denver & Intermountain streetcar line that ran along West 13th Avenue from 1904 to 1951; the rise of motor tourism and its effect on West Colfax Avenue; the role of the Lakewood Brick Company in Lakewood's suburban growth and the World War II boom and the post-war boom. Several long-time residents will be interviewed to gather information on these topics.
The project timmeframe is June 2001 to March 2002. Funds for the $12,000 project have come from the State Historical Fund, City of Lakewood, the A.M.C., Community Responsibility Center, Lakewood Historical Society and several private sources.
If you would like more information about this exciting project, or have information or photographs of a historic place that you can share with us, please contact Cathleen Norman at (303)985-2599, Beth Hoover at (303)239-8351, or Deb Jones at (303)232-6550.