Evergreen is an unincorporated town, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Jefferson County,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, U.S. The CDP is a part of the

Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver regi ...

. The Evergreen post office has the ZIP Codes 80439 and 80437 (for

post office box A post office box (commonly abbreviated as P.O. box, or also known as a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no door-to-door delivery ...

es). At the 2020 census, the population of the Evergreen CDP was 9,307. The Evergreen Metropolitan District provides services.

History

The Evergreen post office has been in operation since 1876. The community was named for

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

trees surrounding the town. The Colorado Blue Spruce Monument is located in the town, in honor of the Colorado state tree.

Geography

Evergreen sits at an elevation of in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

, 19 miles west of

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. The Evergreen CDP has an area of , including of water, most of which being the Evergreen Reservoir.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Evergreen has an

humid continental Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

, with mild summers and wet all year, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Demographics

The

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

initially defined the for the

Law and government

Since Evergreen is an unincorporated area, services usually provided by a city's government are provided by multiple agencies. The county maintains the roads (less State Highway 74), oversees planning and zoning, provides primary and secondary education through its school district and provides law enforcement through its sheriff's office. Evergreen Fire/Rescue provides fire protection and emergency medical response service. Water and sewer services operate under the administration of the Evergreen Metropolitan District.

Transportation

The two major roads in Evergreen are State Highway 74 and County Highway 73. Highway 74 runs south from I-70 through Bergen Park and northern Evergreen to downtown, then turns east and follows Bear Creek Canyon to its end at State Highway 8 near Red Rocks Park. Highway 73 runs south from downtown Evergreen to connect with U.S. Highway 285 in Conifer. Bus service in Evergreen is offered by Denver

Regional Transportation District The Regional Transportation District, more commonly referred to as RTD, is the regional agency operating public transit services in all or a portion of eight out of the twelve counties in the Denver–Aurora combined statistical area in the U.S. ...

. TheRide regional routes E and Z run to downtown Denver and there is call-n-Ride curb-to-curb transportation service in town.

Sites of interest

Evergreen Lake, a popular recreation area, was created by damming Bear Creek in 1927. It sits above downtown Evergreen, which includes a mix of historic buildings and local businesses. In the winter, ice skating is offered at Evergreen Lake. The skating season usually runs from mid-to-late December (approximately Christmas) to late March depending upon ice thickness and weather. Evergreen Lake is the venue of the annual Skate the Lake celebration that takes place on New Year's Eve and the Evergreen Pond Hockey Championship which usually takes place in the first weekend of January. Registered Historic Places in Evergreen include: * Bergen Park * Dedisse Park * Evergreen Conference District * Everhardt Ranch * Fillius Park * Hiwan Homestead * Humphrey House *

O'Fallon Park O'Fallon Park is a municipal park in St. Louis, Missouri, that opened in 1908. Under Alderman John Collins-Muhammad the park underwent a million dollar remodeling including renovations on the historic O'Fallon Park Boathouse. The work is part of ...

* Pence Park

Major parks

Evergreen is surrounded by thousands of acres of land in the Denver Mountain Parks and Jefferson County Open Space park systems. The Denver Mountain Parks in the area are Bergen Park, Corwina Park, Dedisse Park, Dillon Park, Fillius Park,

and Pence Park in Indian Hills. The Jefferson County Open Space Parks are Alderfer/Three Sisters, Elk Meadow, Lair o' the Bear, and Mount Falcon Park in Indian Hills. Hiwan Golf Club, a country club located just east of Bergen Park, is Evergreen's only country club. Popular both in the summer and the winter, Evergreen Lake and its "Lake House" are recreational focal points for the region.

Education

Evergreen CDP is within the Jefferson County Public Schools. Schools in the Evergreen CDP include: *Bergen Valley Elementary School and Wilmot Elementary School *Evergreen Middle School * Evergreen High School

Charter schools A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

include: *Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen Some other areas with Evergreen addresses to the south fall into the area for Conifer High School. Most students in the Evergreen area go to Evergreen Middle School. There are four elementary schools in the Evergreen area; Bergen Meadow, Bergen Valley, Wilmot, and Marshdale Elementary. Residents with Evergreen addresses west of the Clear Creek County line are served by Clear Creek Schools with students attending King-Murphy Elementary, Clear Creek Middle School, and Clear Creek High School. Private schools in Evergreen include Evergreen Academy, Evergreen Country Day School, Grace Christian School, and Montessori School Of Evergreen. Charter schools in Evergreen include Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen. It serves students K–8th grade. Open Enrollment - Jefferson Country school district is an open enrollment district. As long as there is sufficient space you can enroll your child in any Jefferson County school.

Notable residents

* Jeffrey Ashby, astronaut graduated from Evergreen High School in 1972 * Berkley Breathed, cartoonist, author, director, and screenwriter * Jane Robson, documentary enthusiast, seasoned cruise ship traveler * Diane Mott Davidson, author * Nate Dern, author and comedian * Kelly Sims Gallagher, international affairs scholar * Joanne Greenberg, author * Scott Hamilton, Olympic gold medal figure skater *

Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1984 and 1988 Democratic presidential nominations, until in 1988, he dropped out amid revelations of ex ...

, U.S. senator and diplomat * John Hinckley Jr., shot President Ronald Reagan, lived in Evergreen * Noah Hoffman, Olympic cross country skier * Kevin Kouzmanoff, MLB player graduated from Evergreen High School in 1999 *

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

, singer and songwriter owned a ranch in Evergreen for several years * Jake Norton, Accomplished high-altitude mountaineer and guide, UN Ambassador *

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative part ...

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

co-creator graduated from Evergreen High School in 1988 * Jake Roper, Internet personality *

Peter Scanavino Peter Muller Scanavino (born February 29, 1980) is an American actor. He stars as ADA List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit characters, Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. in the long-running NBC Police procedural, crime/legal drama series ''Law & Or ...

, actor *

Eric Stough Eric "Butters" Stough (born July 31, 1972) is an American animator and producer. He is best known as the animation director and a producer on the television series ''South Park''. Born in Evergreen, Colorado, Stough attended the University of ...

, Animator and producer, Inspiration of Butters Stotch * Phillip Yancey, American author who writes primarily about spiritual issues

References

External links

Evergreen @ EvergreenColorado.comEvergreen @ TheEvergreenExperience.comEvergreen @ Colorado.comEvergreen @ UncoverColorado.comEvergreen Metropolitan DistrictEvergreen Park & Recreation DistrictEvergreen Area Chamber of CommerceHistoric Downtown EvergreenJefferson County websiteJeffco Public Schools
{{authority control Census-designated places in Jefferson County, Colorado Census-designated places in Colorado Denver metropolitan area