Gregory Diggings Park

2004 Excellence in Landscape

"On this ground, later known as Gregory Diggings, John H. Gregory of Georgia discovered the first gold lode in Colorado on May 6, 1859."

So states the historical marker located in Black Hawk, Colorado. This finding marked the beginning of a population swell to over 6,000 people in 1867 in the Black Hawk and Mountain City region. It's hard to imagine room for that many people now as one drives along Gregory Street in Black Hawk. The Colorado Historical Society erected the monument to mark this historical dig in 1932. Today, many of Black Hawk's city service offices lie just east of it. The City of Black Hawk decided to have a small park on this site created around the historical marker with historical items and a feel of 150 years ago.

To realize their plan, the city contracted for the creation of the park incorporating historical items, mine timbers, boulders, and existing trees. Armed with a century-old plant list, the designer, researched Colorado's mining history and designed a garden which would indeed give the look and feel of the 19th century.

(left to right) Brian Welch, G.E. Enterprises, Inc. Project Manager; Becky Martinek, Nature's Design; Designer Michael Morlock, City of Black Hawk, Project Manager

The plant palette was reduced to only those plants which could survive at over 8,000 feet in altitude and a northern exposure. Drip irrigation would be established for the trees, shrubs and perennials; the grasses and wildflowers would remain at the mercy of natural precipitation. Existing steep slopes were accommodated with retaining walls created using existing mine timbers and boulders for the cribbing and fill, extending the historical significance of the site.

The park is surrounded by plantings of natives such as squaw currant, bunchberry dogwood, native roses, chokecherries, junipers, spruce and aspen to provide a sense of seclusion. The ground is covered with cool season grasses & wildflowers. Raised beds lift those cold-hardy perennials to almost eye level in the seating area. They include mountain bluebell, penstemon, rocky mountain iris, columbine, alpine aster, yarrow, monkshood, blanket flower, wild strawberry, cranesbill and blue harebell.

A flagstone paved, sunny sitting area provides rest to the weary and a great picnic spot. The historical marker marks the entry to the park. A boiler, a relic of the ore refinement process, mine cart and flagpoles further denote it as a Colorado historical point of interest. The result is a small pocket park constructed in 2003 that looks like it's been present since the nineteenth century, untouched by the development of the twentieth and twentieth-first centuries.