Fred McKown, Colorado Springs' First City Forester

This park is named for Fred Polling McKown, who became a pioneering figure in urban forestry in the American West. After training in forestry, McKown took the newly created position of City Forester for Colorado Springs in nineteen ten, becoming the first person to hold that role. Urban forestry was a young profession in the early twentieth century, rooted in the City Beautiful movement's belief that trees and parkways could civilize growing industrial cities.

McKown spent his career planning and planting the street trees and green spaces that would define the look of Colorado Springs for generations. A park named in his honor recognizes not only his professional achievement but the broader idea that a city's character is shaped as much by its trees as its buildings.