Historic Pueblo

MINERAL PALACE PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT

Property acquisition and park establishment, 1896. Subsequent land and lake additions, 1903. Contributing buildings and sites constructed 1936-1939. Mineral Palace Park’s prominent location just west of the Fountain Creek has been an important northern gateway to Pueblo’s urban environment throughout its history. The park was originally envisioned to embellish the grandiose Mineral Palace, built to showcase Colorado’s mineral wealth. The park embodied a lush and expansive vision of urban parks brought to Colorado from eastern cities as part of the “City Beautiful” movement in urban design at the turn of the century. Although the park was first designated in 1896, the period of greatest significance in the park’s development was the depression period of 1936-1939 when the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was most active. The remaining WPA era structures, defined for this nomination as contributing to the historic district, include:

The Main Street entrance gate

The boathouse/pavilion near Lake Clara

The original portion of the lake retaining walls

The bridge over Lake Clara

The band shell near the lake

The ranger station and accessory building at the northeast side of the park

The pathways defining the formal garden (originally the rose garden) area

The remaining park road walls constructed during this period

These structures were originally built by the WPA, with an emphasis on teaching building skills in various related fields, such as masonry, carpentry, electrical and plumbing, in order to train workers in a job skill useful in later work. The design and craftsmanship show the progression of workers in training. The structures are physical representations of the struggles experienced by Puebloans and all Americans to survive the Great Depression.  Designated 8-13-2004