Happy Halloween!

This seems like a good day to share some images from Evergreen Cemetery's yearly fundraiser, "Beyond the Grave," which took place the first weekend of October. Above, an actress representing Queen Palmer, beloved wife our city's founder, General William Jackson Palmer, expounds upon her short life and early death. After her performance (which took place in the historic chapel inside the cemetery), we all boarded a flatbed truck for an open air hay ride through the graveyard, with stops at various gravesites to enjoy several more thespians telling ghost stories and quoting Edgar Allan Poe. I've always enjoyed this annual production and found this year's extra enthralling and creepy.

Hope you had a fun Halloween!

This Is a Shame

Palmer High School is finally getting some much needed improvements. This was our city's first high school, dating back to 1874, although the current building was erected in 1939-40. Considering that it's over 85 years old, you can understand why it's due for some major upgrades. The gymnasium and football field are actually a block away in another building entirely, so students have always had to cross both Weber and Wahsatch to get to gym class (and trust me, this bungs up traffic around Palmer while classes are in session -- downtowners know to take another route during school hours) and I think part of this multi-year, $100 million renovation is dedicated to moving the athletics to a brand new building and closing part of Boulder Street to accommodate the expanded campus. A decision has recently been made to demolish four old Victorians to accomplish this, and that is a damn shame. This particular home on Weber and Saint Vrain has always been a favorite of mine, with its beautiful architectural details. Never mind the fact that it has been divided up into apartments for as long as I can remember and it sits right next door to the school's tennis courts, I hate to see it go and pretty I'm sad about losing it along with the other three casualties. I lived a few blocks up the street from this old grande dame for several years. Sigh. I grabbed this picture on October 2nd as the fire department was apparently playing some role in its demolition. I wonder if it's already gone.

Embrace Your Inner and Outer Goth

I appreciate a proper gothic church, especially around Halloween time. This is Grace Episcopal on Tejon Street, erected around 1874 in the Gothic Revival style. I think it's our city's most beautiful church. You should see the interior, it's gorgeous in there.

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The south façade of our lovely and stately City Hall, erected in 1904.

Señor Stratton

Early local philanthropist and all-around historic good guy Winfield Scott Stratton looking eastward from his plinth on Pikes Peak and Nevada.

Then and Now: The Downtown Post Office

Behold the US Post Office and Federal Courthouse-Colorado Springs Main, located on the southeast corner of Pikes Peak and Nevada avenues. Construction on this stately Beaux-Arts style building was completed in 1910. The photo above was taken today and the one below was taken in 1915, 111 years ago. I did my best to duplicate the camera angle and cropping of the original. As you can see, not much has changed.

The Sheepherder

Fifteen years ago the Broadmoor was sold to a billionaire named Philip Anschutz, and it hasn't been the same since. It just lost some of its magic. He also bought out the local newspaper around the same time and somehow managed to make the Gazette even more conservative-leaning than it already was, which is some feat. I really miss the days before that guy became a household name around here. When it comes to Mr. Anschutz, let me just say that I have some opinions. I will give him, however, that he has augmented the Broadmoor's art collection with some very nice pieces, mostly 20th century paintings depicting the American West, like this lovely one by Thomas Hart Benton. It's just gorgeous.

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The doors to the historic El Paso Club (see yesterday's post). I've never noticed that they're off center. Look again. They are positioned slightly to the right of center for some reason. This bugs me, darn it. Ha!

Men Only

The famous El Paso Club, which is still strictly an old school "gentlemen only" bastion, one of the few left of its kind I suppose. Only men can become members. I've entered its hallowed halls only as a wedding and event photographer, never as a guest. It's really nice in there but you'd think they'd get on board with the rest of society already.

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You're looking at an image of Pikes Peak on New Year's Eve, when the famed AdAmAn Club puts on an incredible fireworks display from the summit right at midnight. It's an awesome tradition that started in 1922, and yes the club members hike to the top of the peak for this event -- they don't do it the easy way. Imagine hiking to the summit of a 14,000+ foot tall mountain in the dead of winter and one of the shortest days of the year! I personally have never made it to the top of Pikes Peak on foot, although I have summited a (small) handful of other fourteeners. Some of them  are "easier" than others. I put that in quotes for a reason. Ha! Hiking up a giant mountain is not exactly easy!

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A more or less life sized statue inspired (apparently) by early residents of Colorado Springs. I don't think they represent actual historic individuals. You can find it on Tejon Street a little south of Colorado. I have no idea what it's called but I can tell you that the lantern works.

Elsie Palmer

Behold seventeen year-old Elsie, one of General Palmer's three daughters, in a portrait painted by none other than the great John Singer Sargent around 1889 or 1890. At the time, Palmer was here in Colorado Springs while his wife and daughters were on an extended stay in England.

Sargent is one of my favorite portraitists. His works are generally quite large, even life sized, and Elsie's portrait is no exception. It's part of the permanent collection of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and I've always admired it. What you're looking at here is not the actual painting, it's a copy that hangs on the wall in the Palmers' family home, Glen Eyrie Castle, where my mom's birthday celebration was held last weekend.

A Man's Home Is His Castle

The man in question being our city's founder, General William Jackson Palmer, and the home being quite literally a castle. This is where my mom's birthday party took place over the weekend. They do a high tea thing on the weekends. I am a big Colorado Springs history nerd as you know, so naturally a visit to Glen Eyrie Castle is always a treat.

The View from the Top (The Top of the Social Pyramid, That Is)

Saturday was my mom's 90th birthday, and we celebrated this landmark achievement with a tea party at Glen Eyrie Castle attended by many friends and family. Glen Eyrie was built in the early 1870s by our city's founder, General William Jackson Palmer, who was quite the anglophile and fancied a proper English castle for his beloved wife, Queen. (Yes, that was really her name. Okay technically it was Mary, but everyone called her Queen.) If you step out the front door and walk around to the patio, you're treated to quite a lovely view indeed! More to come.

First Congregational

Here's one of our historic downtown churches, First Congregational. I've blogged about it many times. This impressive building with its distinctively massive stone columns was completed in 1889 and sits on the northwest corner of Tejon and Saint Vrain, in the Near North End neighborhood. According to Wikipedia, it's listed on the National Historic Register and "Its design is in the Richardsonian Romanesque style and is constructed of Colorado Wall Mountain Tuft (rhyolite) quarried near Castle Rock, Colorado." It cost $40,000 to build, which is somewhat hilarious until you do the math: that's about $1,409,226.09 in today's money! Anyway, I think it's gorgeous, and having documented my share of weddings at First Congregational, I can tell you that the inside of it is beautiful as well.

Not Much Has Changed

I took this from the overlook in Palmer Park this afternoon. The foothills above the Mountain Shadows neighborhood still look bare, thirteen and-a-half years after the Waldo Canyon Fire torched everything in its 18,247 acre path, including 346 homes in that part of the city. I'm sure it looks different up close, but from this distance it's almost like the fire just happened, there doesn't seem to be any apparent new growth although there was actually a huge push to plant things as soon as they were able. It must all be low bushes and grasses. I know that it takes decades (or even centuries) for Mother Nature to rebuild after a catastrophic fire. I miss the way these foothills used to look.

The Second Midland School

This old school on the deep west side was built in 1902. It's known as the Second Midland School because there was a previous Midland School; this one was presumably built to replace it when more room was needed. In turn, there's a third, more modern Midland Elementary School nearby, servicing grades kindergarten through five. The Second Midland School now houses offices and I'm giving serious consideration to relocating my studio here. We shall see.

A Little Night Ramen

The latest tenant of 324 E Pikes Peak Avenue is Night Ramen, a restaurant I have yet to sample. This location has seen a lot of businesses come and go over the years. For a long time it was a Goodwill Store, which I appreciated since it's near our house (I love thrift stores!), but that eventually closed and it became a sort of antique mall called the "Treasure Shoppé." This drove me crazy for years, because as a French speaker that little accent over the final E forced me to pronounce it "shoppay" in my head every time I drove past. Now it's a restaurant and I think that's a good fit for the space. In the photo below you can see that it was a filling station and a either a car dealership or a mechanic's shop in years past.

Evergreen Cemetery Walkabout (Part 5)

I'm ending my series on Evergreen Cemetery with this grave. I've always been a bit curious about it because there's a Janitell Street and a Janitell Junior High School on the south end of town. I haven't been able to find any info at all about the Janitells of Colorado Springs, but it isn't a common surname I'm just going to assume that the name on this gravestone has some significance in our city's history.

Evergreen Cemetery Walkabout (Part 4)

A little bit more of this and that from our afternoon of exploring Evergreen Cemetery on October 12th. You can see why I like it there so much. I like old cemeteries as a rule, not just this one. My maternal grandfather is buried here, and so is Pat's uncle. I imagine I'll end up here one day too. Not a bad place to hang out for eternity.