Riverfront Park

Riverfront Park. . , Where The Fun Began, Denver's first amusement park, Riverfront Park, opened on the cityside bank of the South Platte River in 1887. Today Commons Park sweeps across the old Riverfront site. Once again, the Central Platte Valley is a great place to play., Colorado Proud, Walker's Castle proudly hosted the Exposition of Products of Colorado, a showcase of locally produced goods and services. Livestock exhibitions at Riverfront Park evolved into what is now the National Western Stock Show., Fit For A King, On July 3, 1887, John Brisben Walker opened his wildly popular Riverfront Park near the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte. The 50-acre complex combined typical park attractions with a unique assortment of entertainment, sports, cultural and agricultural events., The park's centerpiece was the Castle of Culture and Commerce, better known as Walker's Castle. Stoutly constructed of lava rock (rhyolite) blocks, the once regal performance and exhibition began its fall to ruin by the turn of the century., Riverboat Days, Walker bought a side-wheel steamboat to ferry passengers up the river to Brighton and back. But the first such trip ended with the boat beached on a sand bar. Undaunted, Walker dammed South Platte at 19th Street, creating a lake for the side-wheeler to paddle on peacefully. Capacity crowds frolicked on deck, dancing to band music that floated over the water, while swimmers waved from the river banks., Denver Dreamer, Real estate developer John Brisben Walker was one of Colorado's most colorful promoters. Although Walker's Castle is long gone, the ruins of his unfinished Colorado Summer White House still stand atop Mt. Falcon west of Morrison. Walker bought another property near Morrison with magnificent red rock formations. The City of Denver bought the land and turned it into Red Rocks Park. Walker also developed northwest Denver's fashionable Berkeley neighborhood, donating land there to build Regis University., Walker operated Riverfront Park for just over a decade. He moved on to New York City, where he bought a struggling magazine called Cosmopolitan. He eventually sold it to William Randolph Hearst for $1.5 million., Grand Playground, Riverfront Park featured an oval half-mile racetrack, grandstands and stables. Horse racing, as well as baseball, bicycle, horseless carriage, rodeo and circus events, drew thousands of spectators to the track., The city's first professional baseball team, the Denvers, made Riverfront Park their home field. The park also hosted Denver's first rodeo, the "Grand Cowboy Tournament" in 1887., In the summertime, visitors enjoyed outdoor performances of a 55-piece brass band. In colder months, audiences went into the relative warmth of Walker's Castle for art, music, dance, theater and literary presentations. Walker also ran a toboggan slide from atop the grandstand down to the riverbanks., Circus Rumpus, The circus was a big crowd pleaser at Riverfront. In 1900, the Ringling Brothers' Circus came to Denver in 65 railroad cars. But the circus companies that camped at Riverfront were demolishing the site. In particular, the elephants trampled the grass and shrubs and left mountains of dung., A Ruined Castle, In 1890, John and Mary Elitch opened Elitch Gardens in North Denver, a far more extravagant amusement park that soon eclipsed Riverfront. Walker sold his Riverfront property to a subsidiary of the David Moffat's Denver, Salt Lake and Pacific Railroad in 1903. The new owner built Moffat Station and other rail facilities. The company still leased the former racetrack to traveling circuses and to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show., Walker's Castle became a stable, then a laundry and washroom for railroad workers, and finally hay storage. The once grand park sank into decay and became a notorious wasteland that people began to call "the Bottoms." After years of neglect, Walker's Castle burned to the ground in 1951., No Silver Lining, The Silver Crash in 1893 tarnished the carefree atmosphere at Riverfront Park. As mines and smelters closed across the state, unemployed workers streamed into Denver. Walker allowed the City of Denver to use Riverfront Park as a refugee camp. By July, the city was feeding as many as 1,000 people a day at the park. Shocked by the poverty, the Women's Club of Denver converted Walker's Castle into a children's day camp., Common Ground, On November 21, 2000, Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb dedicated Commons Park, a 26-acre, $20 million urban jewel on the old Riverfront Park site. Trees, wildflowers and wetlands now attract waterfowl and other wildlife back to the riverside. The Colorado Division of Wildlife helped restore native habitats, reintroducing coyotes, foxes and hawks. They also stocked the river with black bullhead and sunfish., The centerpiece of Commons Park is "Common Ground," a sculptural stone amphitheater. Created by artist Barbara Grygutis, the curving wall of native lava rock from Castle Rock was donated by the Gates Family Foundation. Common Ground is a great place to drink in the panoramic views of the reborn Bottoms., Commons Park also features a hilltop overlook, the Sky Garden. North of the park sits one of America's largest skateboard parks.