A tributary of the South Platte River, the Cherry Creek flows for about 45 miles through Castlewood Canyon in Douglas County, and converges with the South Platte in downtown Denver. It is named for the chokecherry shrubs that grow along it. It was home to Arapaho Indians who camped along its banks. White settlers turned the creek into a city dump. Historian Jerome Smiley wrote in 1901 that the creek was so polluted that it should be covered over and converted to a sewer. With more imagination, Mayor Robert Speer transformed it into a tree lined parkway, Speer Boulevard. Famed architect and developer, Temple Hoyne Buell, transformed the former dump into the upscale Cherry Creek Shopping Center. Other “cherries” include Cherry Creek Schools, Cherry Creek Country Club, Cherry Hills Village, and Cherry Creek State Park and reservoir.
- Courtesy of “Dr. Colorado” Tom Noel.