Floral Park Historic Background: The Floral Park neighborhood embraces three historic subdivisions including Floral Park (1906), Wellington Heights (1907), and Interurban Park (1908). These subdivisions were created as a result of the rapid growth of population in Boulder during the early 1900s, the landscaping of the Chautauqua grounds, the development of the University campus, the growth of the streetcar system, and the entrance of an interurban railway, the Denver and Interurban, into Boulder.
The first of the new subdivisions south of Baseline created in response to the developments of the early twentieth century was the Floral Park Addition, embracing an area from Park Avenue to Bluebell Avenue from 15th Street to Broadway. David E. Dobbins subdivided Foral Park in 1906. The Interurban Park subdivision was also created by Dobbins, the plat was filed on 31 December 1908. John C. Fisher originally purchased the land encompassing the subdivions in 1874. Fisher paid the federal government $171.69 for 160 acres of land. When Fisher failed to pay taxes in 1875, Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Thomas Danford bought the tract for back taxes. In 1890, Boulder County purchased the tract from Danford to establish a poor farm. The county built a large brick house, (no longer extant) on 22nd Street just south of Baseline, operating it as a poor farm for nearly ten years. After an effort to locate the Colorado Osteopathic Sanitarium there failed, David Dobbins bought the land from the County.
After selling his interest in the cemetery association, Dobbins began subdividing the surrounding area. In 1906, he platted the Floral Park and Interurban Park additions. Dobbins cleared the "worst of the boulders" from Floral Park, dumping them in ravines, and opened up roads. He then sold some lots to individuals and others to the real estate firm of Park and Holmes. He also remodeled the old two-story brick Poor Farm house (in Interurban Park), removed an enormous hay and stock barn, drained some of the ground, cleared boulders from the west blocks, seeded the southwest blocks to alfalfa, and roughed in the streets.
Mr. Dobbins platted a large section of southeast Boulder, named a section of it Floral Park in honor of his wife, who was Flora Ashum, daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Henry Ashmum, who were early settlers in Longmont. The other section was named Interurban Park, because of the operation at that time and for a number of years later of an electric interurban line between Boulder and Denver. The tracks were on what is now Marshall Road. Mr. Dobbins also owned at one time the row of business houses on the west side of Broadway south of Walnut. [source: Daily Camera July 1, 1955]
Dobbins built four brick cottages on Bluebell Avenue, on the south east corners of 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Streets [1604 Bluebell, 1700 Bluebell, 1800 Bluebell and 1900 Bluebell]. All of the houses were similarly constructed, with a field stone foundation, red brick exterior, and hipped roof. Dobbins purchased the real estate and insurance firm of Wood and Slason (formerly Hill and Fox) in 1905 to promote his development. Dobbins moved from Boulder in 1905 but returned in 1908 for a few years before permanently locating in California. [source: Daily Camera August 7, 1977]
