Denver, Colorado has a lot of nice parks. There are many nice small parks hiding in various parts of the city. There are also several large parks that easily stand out as you drive around the city. One of the larger and older parks near the center of the town is Cheeseman Park. It covers 16 city blocks about a mile and half east of downtown.

The main feature of the park is the wide-open central lawn. The park is surrounded by a band of various trees with three structures in them. On the west is a small children's playground, on the north is a rustic gazebo, and on the east on the highest point in the park is a large neo-classical pavilion. The rest of the park is grass. In warm weather the slope down away from the pavilion is covered with sunbathers.

The land occupied by Cheeseman Park was given to the city of Denver in 1858 by an Act of the US Congress for use as a cemetery. It came to be called Mt. Prospect Graveyard. It was set up with each group in the city such as the Odd Fellows, the Masons, etc. being places in a certain part of the cemetery. Furthermore, in 1873 Mt. Prospect became the City Cemetery, which meant that criminals, transients, epidemic victims, and the poor were buried in their area.

The city itself began to expand up to and beyond Mt. Prospect with neighborhoods being developed around the graveyard. Also with other cemeteries being established in the area around Denver, the graveyard was not being maintained and had become an eyesore to the neighbors. In 1890 a second Act of Congress permitted the cemetery to be convert to a park. The surviving families were responsible for the removal of the interred remains, but the poor were left to the city to move. In 1893 it was decided that the project had to be completed in 90 days, and the job was given to a local undertaker, E.P. McGovern. He began work on 14 March 1893.

On 19 March 1893, the newspaper, the Denver Republican, had the headline "The Work of Ghouls." The workers moving the bodies to the new cemetery had been opening the graves, and placing the bones into new boxes. They had not necessarily been paying attention to the fact that one body might be placed into two or three different boxes. (The undertaker was being paid $1.90 per body, so a few extras only meant more money.) Also the old coffins, shrouds, grave cloths, etc. were being cast aside.

The paper also checked out the land the city had obtained for the re-interment. It was a plot of land located next to the Platte River. It was bottomland that the river frequently flooded.

The mayor stopped all work, and a fence was built around the graveyard. The place became even more run down until 1902, when the holes in ground were filled and some landscaping was done to complete the park. The bodies that had not been removed were left in place. Bones and other artifacts continue to be discovered. (There have been many stories about the paranormal occurrences in the park. On certain moonlit nights it is said that the outline of the graves can be seen on the grass.)

The next controversy for the park involved its naming. Walter Cheeseman was a local land speculator, railroad man, and businessman. He owned the Denver Union Water Company, which had a monopoly on the city's water. It was felt by many citizens of the day that its rates were too high for the poor quality of service. The utility also was fighting with the local governments to minimize their taxes; the value of its property on the tax roles was frequently a lot less that what it was showing in its own statements.

Needless to say the people of Denver did not hold Cheesman in high esteem when he died in 1907. At that time Mayor Speer was working on his "City Beautiful" campaign, and he was willing to sell the naming of the park for the price a neo-classical pavilion. Cheeseman's wife was willing to pay $100,000 to improve the memory of her husband. The park had a name and a pavilion.

The controversies are now over. The park is now a laid back afternoon to enjoy the sun and just hang out with friends.