A Place Set Apart: The History and Architecture of Pueblo's East Side Neighborhood

DeHerrera, Jeffrey; Thomas, Adam; HISTORITECTURE, LLC

From introduction: "The exact definition of what constitutes Pueblo’s East Side neighborhood varies from resident to resident. But one feature is always the same: the East Side is a place set apart. It is a place set apart physically by Fountain Creek, which severs the neighborhood from the rest of the city. It is a place set apart by its erratic, undulating topography. It is a place set apart by varied architectural styles and building types. And it is a place set apart by its economic and cultural diversity. The East Side, known historically as East Pueblo and Park Hill, is one of the very earliest areas in Colorado to be settled by Europeans, outside of the San Luis Valley. Its river confluence and mesa-top promontories may have attracted Native Americans even millennia before. Certainly the first American explorers encountered tribes at this place. Beyond the length of East Pueblo’s history is the breadth of its legacy. It was a place of struggle and success, where the working and professional classes freely mixed for most of its history. In that, it was unlike any other place in Pueblo. Dominating the story of Pueblo’s East Side is its physical separation from the rest of the city. On the east bank of Fountain Creek, East Siders struggled to define themselves—to promote a cohesive and appealing identity in the face of geographic stigma. Yet perhaps no other neighborhood in Pueblo so strikingly defied definition. The neighborhood was historically home to a mix of classes and ethnicities that lived side by side. On the bluffs above the city were members of the wealthy professional class. In small adobe dwellings in the flood-prone river bottoms were working-class Mexicans, Italians, Germans, and even Orthodox Jews from Eastern Europe. The neighborhood retains its diversity and, therefore, much of its historic identity. For the purposes of this context, the East Side constitutes all of that area of the City of Pueblo east of Fountain Creek, south and east of the U.S. Highway 50 Bypass, and north of the BNSF Railway (former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad) right-of-way. It also includes the Eastwood neighborhood, which is northeast of the U.S. Highway 50 Bypass." Project funding was provided in part by a 2008 Historic Preservation Fund grant to City of Greeley (project number CO-08-016) administered by the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office (grant number 08-08-21710) administered by the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Pueblo, Colorado is a Certified Local Government.

A Place Set Apart: The History and Architecture of Pueblo's East Side Neighborhood

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