Historic Homes of Denver: Neighborhood Series, The Alligator in Washington Park's Grasmere Lake

Grasmere Lake was built in 1906 as an overflow reservoir for Smith Lake and the Denver (Smith) Ditch.  Named after a small village in northwest England called Grasmere, Grasmere Lake in Washington Park covers an area of 19 acres and is 10 feet deep at it's deepest point.  Unlike Smith Lake, Grasmere Lake does not have a boathouse, nor does it have boating on the lake.

Through the years, several odd occurrences have taken place at Grasmere Lake.  In 1958, Grasmere Lake was emptied out in search of a gun in a murder investigation.  The suspect in the case had claimed to police that he dumped the weapon in Grasmere Lake.  Police found tons of junk in Grasmere Lake, but no gun.

Over the years, the City of Denver frequently drained Grasmere Lake in an attempt to find a way of stabilizing the lake bed and cleaning the lake of the crap that some very rude people insist on tossing into Grasmere Lake.

Grasmere Lake was drained again in 1998.  Someone reported seeing a Caiman in Washington Park's Grasmere Lake.  For those that don't know, a "Caiman" is a smaller member the crocodile family.  Males of the species can grow to 6 or 7 feet long.  Well, some people speculated that an Alligator named Albert (that had escaped from the Denver Zoo in 1981) had not only lived through many Colorado winters un-detected, but that said alligator had made his way through the City Ditch all the way to Grasmere Lake.  It's a great story, but seriously, did anyone really think about how cold it can get here in the winter?.  I guess the dog days of summer just rip that type of information right out of peoples minds.  None the less, the news media went wild and people were scared silly to walk their children and pets around Grasmere Lake for fear that they might become lunch for this phantom monster.  The water from Grasmere Lake was drained out in search of the creature, but of course it was never found.  In time, all the fury around the Caiman of Grasmere Lake died down and faded away.  Personally, I found the whole thing hysterically funny.

After the millennium, the City of Denver once again drained Grasmere Lake, (and no they didn't find the elusive Caiman then either) and lined the lake bed with a special liner that would prevent water from Grasmere Lake from draining into the soil.

Today, Grasmere Lake is a great amenity in Denver's Washington Park and is a wonderful place to spend the afternoon walking, playing tennis, playing Frisbee, walking your dog or just enjoying a picnic by the water.

If you would like more information on Grasmere Lake or any of the Historic Homes of Denver in and around Washington Park, give me a call, I would love to help!