Tell Us About Your Favorite New Deal Site
Send us a first-person story of 100 (or so) words describing the site and why you chose it. Submissions will appear in future issues of The Fireside! Be sure to include a photo (with photo credit). Send to [email protected]. Thanks!
Red Rocks Rocks On!
Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, Colorado
Photo by Susan Ives
Named for 300-foot slabs of bright red sandstone, Red Rocks Park has served as a venue for live music for much of Denver’s history. The first documented concert, in 1906, featured a 25-piece brass band. The first rock concert took place in 1964, featuring The Beatles! Virtually every big-name band has performed on its “acoustically perfect” stage since. The city of Denver purchased Rock Rocks—elevation 6,500 feet—in 1927. The Civilian Conservation Corps arrived in 1936 to carve out the 9,450-seat amphitheater. A bronze statue of a CCC worker stands in tribute to their achievement. Some 80 years on, Red Rocks Amphitheater remains a mecca for music lovers. It also hosts classic films under the stars. A wildly popular event, “Yoga on the Rocks,” would have been unimaginable to Red Rocks’ founders and builders whose stories are told at the Visitor Center. On the day I visited, hundreds of students in caps and gowns poured in to the historic amphitheater for their high school graduation.
— Susan Ives