Globeville Story: Carpio Sanguinette Park

Monday, January 29, 2018

Carpio Sanguinette Park

Pioneers. When brothers William and Louis Sanguinette arrived in 1876, the area was open prairie, populated by the Arapaho, Cheyenne and a few farmers. The brothers were soon joined by their father Peter, who purchased 10 acres of land from homesteader William H. Clark, and began building a home for their large, extended family. (Louis and his wife Mary had 14 children). Smelters and railroads built into the region and other settlers found work, built homes and incorporated their growing village, naming it Globeville.
Sanguinettes raised enough vegetables, turkeys and chickens to support themselves and to sell to local markets, delivered by horse and wagon and later by truck. But low crop prices during the Depression crippled farmers and, in 1936, the family sold part of their property to the City of Denver for a sewage treatment plant. Many members of the large family moved away as larger industries, trucking companies, and salvage lots took over the area.
Another pioneer associated with Globeville is Sal Carpio, the first Hispanic to represent District 9 on Denver’s City Council. Carpio served three terms on city council and gave a voice to the district’s growing Hispanic community. He led the Denver Housing Authority from 1994 to 2007 and helped bring low-income housing options to the city. Carpio was also known as a teacher and mentor. “He knew city politics about better than anyone else,” said former two-term Denver Mayor Federico Peña, who met Carpio in 1973. “I consider him to be the brightest mind in city politics at the time.” Sal Carpio died September 25, 2014 at the age of 73. 1.
Use of the sewage plant was discontinued in 1966 and the area weathered neglect and abuse until 1999, when the city transformed the site into a 13-acre park. The legacy of former plant remained, with the large concrete forms that once treated wastewater painted with graffiti murals.
Residents referred to the park as “Northside Park,” but wanted to find a name that honored the history of the neighborhood. On October 9, 2017, Denver City Council voted unanimously to name the park Carpio-Sanguinette Park to honor two pioneers, Sal Carpio and the Sanguinette family.