Golden – Seven cottonwood trees that grew for 135 years on Jackson Street between 22nd and 23rd streets lay in a massive heap this week.
The land – most recently home to 42 trailers in the Big Tree Mobile Home Court – is being prepped for redevelopment as 30 townhomes called the Jackson Street Villas.
When the land was rezoned for townhomes, neighbors asked city officials to save as many of the towering trees as possible – particularly three hulking ones along Jackson.
Mayor Chuck Baroch, in a Friday letter to area neighbors, said preserving those in the city’s right of way was “no longer feasible due to the extremely poor condition of the trees.”
Recent strong winds snapped limbs and revealed that the trees’ deterioration was greater than believed, Baroch said.
He wrote: “Even with heavy dead-branch removal, the trees had high probability of trunk failure, making them a danger to the public.”
The city plans to plant replacement trees.
The three trees, plus four ailing ones already marked as goners, were headed for a huge chipper.
“We aren’t happy with it,” neighbor Melissa Moya said of losing the trees. “But if I had to choose between the trailers or the trees, I’m glad the trailers are gone. There was trash and drugs, and kids were exposed to all that.”
Golden historian Rick Gardner said former Mayor Francis Everett planted the trees at his country estate in 1871. Everett lost money in a financial scandal and committed suicide in 1894.
Businessman William Sapp turned the site into a resort called Sapp’s Grove, which was serviced by a tramway that ran down Jackson Street.
In 1924, the area became a tourist park where people camped under the cottonwoods after driving the nearby Lariat Loop in their new-fangled autos. Stone cabins were built – with the historic caretaker’s cabin the lone survivor of the current redevelopment – and gradually trailers arrived in 1955.
At Gardner’s suggestion, several slices of the cottonwoods have been stored as a way to preserve their historic value.
Some may end up in displays that label the tree rings with what was happening in Golden at various times, said city spokeswoman Sabrina Henderson.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
