“There was a desire to hold more of a responsibility to where I live instead of a transient casualness about the place,”  Sydney said vulnerably. “ I spend most of my time here, so I should really know more about it.”  Sydney Dobbs participated in a Neighborhood Cohort with Sacred Place this year. One of the practices to help cultivate love for her neighbors and neighborhood was developing a Neighborhood Narrative .  

Sydney shared with her signature enthusiasm about her experience creating a Neighborhood Narrative,  “I live in Cheesman Park, which I would have formerly said was Cap Hill; but no, no, we are a separate neighborhood! The boundaries of my neighborhood are Downing, Colfax, York, and 8th Ave. They form a big rectangle around Cheesman Park, which is the most notable landmark.”  This is where creating a Neighborhood Narrative begins. What are the boundaries, landmarks, and name of your neighborhood?

The Neighborhood Narrative is a simple two-page workbook created to guide you through the story of the place you live. It begins with surface observation, moves to historical and cultural examination, and ultimately leads to the work of assessment and evaluation. It is a tool to look closer and ask more meaningful questions about your neighborhood:  “Why do people move here?”, “Why do people stay here? ”, and  “What do I see as the assets and liabilities of my neighborhood?” 

The process and practice encouraged Sydney not only to become more curious about her neighborhood, but also to become more curious about her neighbors’ perspectives on their neighborhood. “ I’m thinking it would be so sweet for everyone in my apartment building to do this together; to take time to be curious about what they see as pain points and points to celebrate.”  A Neighborhood Narrative provides space for various perspectives based on lived experience. It creates a frame for conversations that could otherwise be seen as combative. It invites neighbors with differing opinions on what should be celebrated or needs to be corrected into conversation.

Sydney’s humility and honesty are evident in the way she talks about creating a Neighborhood Narrative:  “I'm being deeply formed by where I live and, in some ways, I had no idea where I live!”  This is a practice of cultural excavation and collective examination. A Neighborhood Narrative is intentionally listening longer and looking deeper into the story of the people and place where you live. It is a practice of investing your love and life into your neighbors and neighborhood.  

Practice

1. Observation. Begin by identifying your neighborhood’s boundaries, demographics, and unique characteristics.

   
   

2. Excavation. Listen and learn from the history, culture, and diverse perspectives of your neighbors.

   
   

3. Examination. Consider your neighborhood’s assets and liabilities, challenges and opportunities, and what is worth celebrating.

   
   

The cultural heritage sites in our neighborhoods, towns, and cities are sacred places. They are invaluable tangible reminders of the people who built homes and lives here before us. The oldest surviving historic structure in Denver is Four Mile House.

Before Denver had a name, the indigenous Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples lived on these lands. In 1859, months after the founding of Denver City, two brothers, Samuel and Jonas Brantner, built a two-story log cabin along the Cherokee Trail adjacent to Cherry Creek. Building the cabin was in violation of the Horse Creek Treaty, one of the many unenforced treaties in Denver history. 

The name "Four Mile" came from the house serving as a stagecoach stop approximately four miles from the center of Denver. In 1860, a businesswoman bought the cabin and opened it as an inn until a major flood of Cherry Creek left the house stranded. In 1864, the house and 100 acres were sold to Levi and Millie Booth for $800. The Booth family operated Four Mile House as a successful stagecoach stop and flourishing farm. Levi dug irrigation ditches that watered an apple orchard. Millie ran a beekeeping business in the Bee House.

In 1912, Levi Booth passed away at the Four Mile House. Millie assumed ownership until her death in 1926, leaving the estate, water rights, and farmland to her daughter and son-in-law, Grace and Daniel Working. Grace would live on the land until 1946, when she sold the Four Mile House and surrounding land to the Boulton family who, lived in the house until 1963. Four Mile could have disappeared in the decades of the quickly growing city of Denver. But through preservation efforts, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. The City and County of Denver purchased the Four Mile House property in 1975. The preservation and education of the history of the land is now the ongoing effort of  Four Mile Historic Park , a nonprofit organization.

At Four Mile Historic Park, the original two-story log house built in 1859 along Cherry Creek is now a museum. The rebuilt Bee House serves as a one-room schoolhouse for students on field trips. Tours of the property provide a unique embodied experience of the past stories of Denver. The staff of Four Mile curate events and programs throughout the year that invite people to learn from the past and the place. Cultural heritage sites hold history in invaluable ways. They are the landmarks that remind us there were families full of hopes and fears here before us. Four Mile is a sacred place.