Four Mile Historic Park

Last Friday afternoon I decided to visit Four Mile Historic Park for the first time in over a decade. This is a 12 acre site along Denver's Cherry Creek, on which is located Four Mile House, the oldest house in Denver, and seen in the photograph on the left. It was built in 1859, the year after Denver was founded, and offered services to travelers heading to Denver along the Cherokee Trail. It was called Four Mile House because it was located exactly four miles from the Denver city limits. It became a stagecoach stop when regular service began in 1862, but after the train from Cheyenne to Denver began operation in 1870 and eliminated the need for a stagecoach, the house was sold and became a farm.

Happily, it still is a farm, with a number of animals to visit and photograph, including the two pigs in the photograph on the right. And why have I not visited this living farm for over a decade, while visiting another living farm - the Littleton Historical Museum - many times in the intervening years? I am not sure. It is certainly not because Four Mile Historic Park charges a $5 admission fee, while the Littleton Museum is free. I might be a cheapskate, but nobody is that cheap, right? Right?

While at the park, I think I ran into an old friend. I am pretty sure that the goat in the photograph on the left is the same goat I took a self portrait with back when I was taking a black and white photography class at the University of Denver. Or at the very least, it is a close relative. While taking photos for that class, the goat wound up looking straight at the camera, and that, combined with the bewildered look on my face while posing next to it, was a big hit with the rest of the class. Alas, one of just a few such successes. Fame is fleeting, after all. And feel free to quote me on that.

I must say, the horses were pretty friendly, too, and each came up to me to be greeted. I was hoping to get a closeup of them side by side, but for the most part, they kept their distance from each other, no doubt a result of being cooped up together for so long because of the pandemic. I was able to take the photograph on the right, when they finally got relatively close. I definitely intend to visit Four Mile Historic Park again soon, and not just because I am now eligible for the $4 senior rate.