Wow Photo Wednesday ~ Parks Album

Sometimes the simplest things can inspire a "Wow." The humble structures, along with the proud ones, in the Parks Album are a little known slice of life that remind us of the little things that while in the background, can still be fascinating.

The "Parks Album" was acquired by the Western History Department in the 1930's, with no documentation or other information. It appears to be an inventory of buildings and facilities in the Denver City & Mountain Parks network. The album contains 755 images on 95 pages, taken in Denver and the surrounding area. The pictures show playgrounds, tennis courts, filling stations, asphalt plants, bridges, county farms, fire stations, dams, restrooms, golf courses, municipal buildings, sewage treatment plants, police departments, highway department garages, zoos, campground cooking shelters, outdoor theaters, and other park structures. There are many interesting "small architecture" examples that will interest builders or "tiny house" aficionados. The Album is divided into several sections, as listed below.

The Parks Album is part of the array of resource material pertaining to parks and recreation held by the Denver Public Library’s Western History / Genealogy Department. Foremost among the books, photographs, and personal collections with parks-related content, is the "Denver Parks and Recreation Department Records 1861-2009" (WH1316) collection which documents the growth of Denver’s park system from 1860 through 2001. Over 15,000 items, drawn largely from the Department of Parks and Recreation, constitute one of the largest collections in the Western History and Genealogy Department.

• Works and papers of numerous noted architects are included
• Also included are formal parks, such as Civic Center Park, neighborhood parks and playgrounds, mountain parks, historic parkways, and trails like the 10-mile South Platte River Greenway
• Additional resources include books, magazine, photographs

The entire Parks Album is here: C Photo Album 111. (695 photos digitized)

Here are the sections:

Civic Center. (18)
Denver Fire Department. (22)
Denver Municipal Airport. (16)
Police Department. (14)
Municipal buildings. (12)
Municipal Library and Branch Libraries. (10)
Bridges viaducts and underpasses.(58)
Department of Health, General Hospital, Welfare Bureau. (19)
Denver Sewage Disposal Works. (25)
Highway Department. (16) 
Old cotton mills. (5)
Asphalt plant. (10)
Kenwood Dam. (8) 
Case Municipal Golf Course. (6)
Denver County Farm. (29)
Country Club Neighborhood. (3)

Parks and playgrounds. (307)
Parks and playgrounds, Berkeley Park. (13)
Parks and playgrounds, Cheesman Park. (6)
Parks and playgrounds, City Park. (123)
Parks and playgrounds, City Park, tennis courts. (9)
Parks and playgrounds, City Park race track, grand stand and stables. (10)
Parks and playgrounds, Lincoln Park. (9)
Parks and playgrounds, Overland Park Golf Course. (9)
Parks and playgrounds, Rocky Mountain Park. (6)
Parks and playgrounds, Sloans Lake Park Trap Shooting. (6)
Parks and playgrounds, Washington Park. (29)
Parks and playgrounds, Wellshire Golf Course. (14)

Denver Mountain Parks. (116)
Denver Mountain Parks, Bergen Park. (4)
Denver Mountain Parks, Corwina Park. (5)
Denver Mountain Parks, Daniels Park. (22)
Denver Mountain Parks, Dedisse Park - Evergreen Golf Course. (15)
Denver Mountain Parks, Echo Lake. (17)
Denver Mountain Parks, Fillius Park. (7)
Denver Mountain Parks, Garden of the Red Rocks. (13)
Denver Mountain Parks, Genesee Park. (17)
Denver Mountain Parks, Little Park. (2)
Denver Mountain Parks, Lookout Mountain Park. (7)
Denver Mountain Parks, O'Fallon Park. (4)

"Wow Photo Wednesday" celebrates photographs in the Denver Public Library's Digital Collections that have "The Wow Factor" and that highlight the myriad delightful nuggets in our database.