Washington Park East Neighborhood Association

Welcome to Wash Park East!

One of the first developments in the East Washington Park Neighborhood was associated with one of the earliest efforts to bring water to Denver and became one of the primary factors in the development of the city.

In 1859, the Capitol Hydraulic Company headed by A.C. Hunt, later governor of the Colorado Territory, received a charter from the Territory of Kansas to divert water from the South Platte River for mechanical, agricultural, mining, and city purposes.

Stockholders in the enterprise included such illustrious pioneers as Henry Allen, Richard Sopris, Amos Steck, and William Byers. In 1860, construction began on a ditch, originally known as "the Big Ditch," on the river about a half-mile above the present site of Littleton. Read More...