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Evergreen, Colorado
At an elevation of 7,200 feet, our climate offers relief
from the hot summers, with temperatures ranging from the high 70's to the low
80's. Winters are surprisingly mild, in the mid 40's to 50 degrees. We enjoy Colorado's
sunny days with an average of 296 days of sunshine.
History
 The
beauty of the mountains first drew people here and they just keep coming! When
Thomas Bergen homesteaded in what is now Bergen Park – just four miles north
of present-day downtown Evergreen – he couldn’t have imagined he was
planting the seed for one of Colorado’s most unique communities. Bergen
arrived in 1859, at a time when most people passed through what would later become
Evergreen on their way to the Rocky Mountain gold country in search of their fortunes.
The surrounding hills never produced much of the precious ore that enticed miners,
but the enterprising Bergen created a different kind of gold mine. He established
a ranch and stage stop on the summer hunting range for the Ute and Arapaho Indians,
and became the first of many ranchers, lumbermen and farmers to settle in the
high valleys.
In those days, legend has it, Evergreen’s pine, spruce and fir forests
were so thick one couldn’t walk a horse between the tree trunks. Harvesting
those forests kept many a mountain family from going hungry. The lumber produced
in Evergreen’s sawmills fed Denver’s enormous appetite for new homes
and commercial buildings. Cattle raised on local ranches, along with the hay,
potatoes, and peas farmers could coax from the soil, also went to Denver for
sale.
Shortly after Bergen’s arrival, some settlers moved south of Bergen Park
to build homes and establish businesses in Bear Creek Canyon, the present site
of downtown Evergreen. Homesteader D.P. Wilmot, who bought a large tract of
land south of town in 1875, first called the area "Evergreen". The
name stuck. By the 1880s, the town was populated by about 200 people. Six sawmills
operated in neighboring mountain valleys; downtown, there was a blacksmith,
a barber, a carpenter, two summer hotels, a Methodist church and two general
stores.
 The
tiny mountain town began to grow with the improvement of the Denver-Evergreen
road up Bear Creek Canyon in 1911, and the advent of electrical service to the
area in 1917. From the 1880s through the 1920s, Evergreen had become than a
rural logging and ranching community – it had become a popular summer
resort for Denver residents. Troutdale-in-the-Pines, a posh resort hotel on
picturesque Upper Bear Creek, catered to Hollywood movie stars and America’s
elite. Other summer resorts sprang up in the area as well, including the Greystone
Guest Ranch and the Brook Forest Inn. Throughout the ‘20s and ‘30s,
Evergreen remained primarily a resort community; its population of about 600
year-round residents nearly doubled during the summer months. In the ‘40s
and ‘50s, as roads were improved and automobile travel became more popular,
the identity of the isolated mountain town began to change. Those whose jobs
might otherwise have kept them city-bound suddenly found themselves able to
live in more rural areas. Some became the first of the Evergreen-Denver commuters.
By the 1970s, Evergreen was established as a year-round commuter community.
Residential Housing and Population Statistics
 Residents
of Colorado experienced a very interesting economic year in 2001. Job growth
in 2000 drove migration into our state in 2001, job contraction in 2001 will
diminish migration in 2002. Statewide, this will result in less demand for housing
of all types this year. Growth will occur in the oil and gas industries. Following
the decrease in defense spending, growth is anticipated due to the number of
military installations in Colorado and the vital significance of the role that
they play in the international arena. Colorado is especially well positioned
for the next expansion in the technology and telecom industries when it comes.
All of the factors that have made Colorado homes a good investment
choice in the past still apply. Colorado is still # 1 in the concentration of
high tech workers, # 2 in the number of high tech companies and # 4 in high
tech job growth. Denver is one of 10 "High Tech Havens". Colorado
is still #1 in percentage of college graduates, #1 in workforce education, and
#4 in share of adults in managerial, professional and technical jobs among the
total workforce. With dismal returns from the stock market, realtors are seeing
increased activity in requests for residential homes as investments, due to
their stable, long term appreciation, and greater over all returns.
As residents seek the quality of life that Colorado has to offer,
they still migrate to Evergreen for its easy access to major employment centers
in Denver, its quality of life, pristine beauty, abundant wildlife, and its
many cultural events. These factors have also resulted in an increase in home
based businesses in the Evergreen area. Approximately 12% of the Evergreen Chamber
members are home based businesses. The Evergreen statistics indicate that homes
stay on the market longer but the average sales prices are still up. The first
quarter of 2002 shows strong showing and under contract activity. With many
realtors in Evergreen having their best years ever, remarks from some leading
realtors in Evergreen are "What Recession?".
Sources: Newsweek Magazine, ColoradoBiz Magazine, Tucker Hart
Adams, Department of Defense, Re/Max in-house statistics, Microsoft articles.
| Demographics |
| |
2001 |
2006 |
| Population |
40,602 |
44,463 |
| Households |
15,823 |
17, 772 |
| Median Age |
42.5 |
43.9 |
| Median Household Income |
$81,418 |
$92,053 |
| Source: CACI Marketing
Systems |
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