The Pinery Real Estate Listings of Houses and Homes for Sale in Douglas County, Colorado

The Pinery

The first homes in The Pinery were built in the early 1970s. The community started slowly but eventually gained momentum, becoming the prestigious place to live that it is today. Many of the homes in The Pinery are on lots larger than one acre and are adjacent to open space. The surrounding Ponderosa pines, many approaching 200 years old, add to the privacy of the home lots. These trees are remains of large forests cut by the lumber industry which arose in response to the gold miners’, who arrived in 1859, need for housing. Large Ponderosas were cut down in the 1860s and the wood was used to build the first homes in Denver. Gold was discovered in 1858 in what is now Russellville by Levi, Oliver and William Russell. The news broke in the Kansas City Journal of Commerce and more than 150,000 miners came to the region. Miners settled along Little Dry Creek, Cherry Creek and the South Platte River and Denver was born. Farmers and ranchers followed the gold miners, providing food for the growing population.

Parker, the town in which The Pinery is located, was incorporated in 1981. It began with the establishment of the Pine Grove Way Station in 1863. It was a stage stop and later an outlying railroad depot for Denver. 20-Mile House was the name of the stage stop, because it was 20 miles south of Denver. Four stage lines stopped at 20-Mile House, which was first built in 1862 as a one-room building. It was sold twice and moved to Main Street in 1864 by George Long. Long added 10 rooms, a kitchen, dining room and a ballroom upstairs. The building became the post office for Pine Grove around 1870 when it was owned by James S. Parker. Pine Grove was renamed Parker when the railroad came.

The Pinery, and the town of Parker, is located in Douglas County. Great natural beauty is found in the mountains, lakes, foothills and open plains of the County’s 844 square miles, with elevations ranging from 5400 feet to 9836 feet. Douglas County is located between Denver and Colorado Springs, the two largest cities in Colorado. The County will remain about 70% open with ranches, parks, farms and public open space. Pike National Forest, Roxborough State Park, Castlewood State Park and Chatfield State Recreation Area provide places to hike, camp, fish, and picnic.

Douglas County, named for Stephen A. Douglas, was created in 1861. The first settlers were Spanish and French explorers who arrived in the area in the early 1700s. Trappers and traders came next, in the 1800s. The Pikes Peak Gold Rush began in 1859 and created the largest population shift in U.S. history as thousands came to make their fortunes in the gold fields. Miners found Colorado to be a good place to live, with a mild climate, plenty of sunshine and beautiful mountains and plains. The miners stayed after the gold played out, becoming some of the first residents in Denver and in the new cities in Douglas County and the surrounding areas.