City of Englewood History
Submitted by: The City of Englewood

In the mid 1800’s, the Englewood area was inhabited by Ute Indians and buffalo, antelope, prairie chickens, sage hens, and rabbits. In 1858, a small group of miners from Georgia, led by William Green Russell, explored the South Platte River Valley and discovered gold in Little Dry Creek. Russell set up a gold mining camp at the mouth of Little Dry Creek where it meets the South Platte River (at today’s intersection of Dartmouth and Santa Fe). Today there is a plaque in C.E. Cushing Park marking the site of the first gold mining camp.

In 1860, Irish imigrant Thomas Skerritt, the "Father of Englewood", filed on a homestead of 640 acres of land located between Quincy and Yale, and Clarkson and Santa Fe. Tom Skerritt and his wife, Mary, were the first white settlers in this area.

In 1864, he built not only their home but also the first house in Englewood. The 480-square-foot cabin, called “Shadyside”, still stands today at 3560 South Bannock Street.

In April 1999, the City of Englewood purchased the old Skerritt house, which had been added to multiple times since its original construction 135 years earlier. The original cabin is believed to lie in the living room of the current structure.

In the early 1870's, Jacob C. Jones purchased 80 acres from Tom Skerritt and became the second settler in Englewood.

Englewood was originally called "Orchard Place" because of the beautiful orchards that Jones established on his acreage Northwest of Broadway and Hampden. Jones was elected Mayor of Englewood in 1903.

In the 1880’s and 1890’s, Orchard Place gained a reputation as a popular spot for gambling, saloons and roadhouses. By 1903, the people of Orchard Place wanted to change the town’s reputation. The town was incorporated on May 13, 1903 and was renamed Englewood, meaning “wood of the nook” after a city near Chicago where Jacob Jones had lived prior to coming to Colorado.

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