Rocky Mountain Land Library in Globeville

Globeville’s North Washington Street is a hodge podge of auto repair shops, salvage lots, and cannabis and liquor stores. Nestled in this industrial mix is the newest branch of the Rocky Mountain Land Library, who’s tagline proclaims - A resource linking land and the community. An oxymoron? Globeville is not often associated with open space and it’s been a long time since the community had a library of its own.
First, a little history.
In the 1870s, the area was sparsely settled by homesteaders and ranchers. Within a decade, the arrival of railroads, smelters, foundries and meatpacking transformed the region into an industrial town.

 

 Sanguinette farm at 51st and Washington about 1880
Photo used with permission from Nora Duryea

The building at at 4800 Washington was once home to meat packers like Mountain States Packing (1924) and K & B Packing and Provisions (1934) that provided blue-collar jobs in the neighborhood. The packers were also major polluters, dumping their refuse directly into the Platte River, and generating a smell that would take your breath away.
But things are looking up.
Since the 1970s, with the founding of the Platte River Greenway the Platte River has received the care it deserved. Polluters were pressured to clean up and fined for dumping, while volunteers and municipalities pitched in to create trails, parks and recreation areas. A former sewage treatment plant at 54th Avenue and Washington has been transformed into Carpio Sanguinette Park, an oasis of cottonwoods, cattails and wildlife. Nearby is Heron Pond, home to herons, avocets, red-tail hawks and waterfowl.
Globeville’s library was founded in 1920 and located in the Globeville Community House at 45th and Grant Street. Eighty-five years ago, during the Depression, Denver closed the library. Although the Valdez Perry opened in 1996, Globeville citizens avoid crossing the railroad tracks to Elyria and rely on the little library in front of the Rec Center.
Enter Jeff Lee and Ann Martin, founders of the Rocky Mountain Land Library, who are restoring a former ranch near Fairplay to house their collection of 40,000 books about nature and the west. In March 2019, the couple opened a branch library in the urban frontier of Globeville, complete with books, events, a Book Club, book discussions, author signings and the cozy, civilized atmosphere of a real library.
Join the conversation. Nick Arvin will lead a discussion about Globeville’s first Book Club pick, The Summer Book written by Tove Jansson. Come by and get acquainted on Sunday, April 28th, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Register for this event on the website:
https://landlibrary.wordpress.com/