HomeMy WebLinkAboutcoa.Jennie Adair Park.History
NAME: Jennie Adair Park/Wetlands
ADDRESS: Rio Grande Trail, 100 Puppy Smith Rd.
LEGAL DESCRIPTION: Lot 1, Block 5 Lakeview Addition
DATE PURCHASES: October 26, 1972
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HOW FUNDED: 6 Penny
LEGISLATION: City Council Minutes: 6/9/75 pg. 2, #2, 6/13/77 pg. 3,
#1 & 8/8/77 pg. 2, #6, Ordinance 51 of 1978
DEED: Warranty Deed, Reception No.170835 & 170836
The City purchased this 1.09 acres from Dorothy Koch Shaw for $112,000 in
1972. It is located next to Puppy Smith Street, near the start of the Rio Grande
Trail, and the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies. This small park overlaps
ACES’ Hallam Lake property and protects a place of historical value (the Jennie
Adair sawmill site).
Jennie Adair and her husband came over Independence Pass in a covered
wagon in the early 1880’s. In the late 1890’s they ran a logging and sawmill
operation at this site. After her husband died she continued their business.
Jennie was a rare woman, staying in Aspen after her husband’s death and doing
a man’s work in a man’s world.
In the City Council meeting on 6/9/1975 Councilman Markalunas suggested
that the area should be improved for a picnic and rest area on the Rio Grande
Trail, the old boiler on this site be re-established and the site should be named
Jennie Adair Sawmill Park. Jennie Adair Sawmill Park was dedicated on August
26, 1977 as part of Colorado Women’s Day Celebration. The park was recently
renovated by the City of Aspen into a wetland ecosystem in order to protect the
Roaring Fork River from storm-sewer runoff contamination. This wetland is a
very valuable habitat, an important fishery, a popular recreation area, and a
crucial source of water for irrigation.