It was an elegant turn-of-the-century “club for gentlemen,” then became one of the best places in the country for dancing, was restaurants and then a parking lot for folks catching the shuttle to the Manitou Incline. Hiawatha Gardens has quite the history at the corner of Old Man’s Trail and El Paso Boulevard in Manitou Springs.
Built in 1887-1889, the first part was the Hiawatha Club, where stylish gentlemen played many a card game as they gambled and sipped fine liquid refreshment. Soon there was an addition to the building, a beer garden and theater with the Hiawatha Family Concert Garden. There was an open-air dance pavilion. The Hiawatha Park Opera Company performed light opera in 1903, but it became vaudeville entertainment after that.
Disaster struck in 1920, when the building burned down, but firefighters were able to save the beautiful maple wood dance floor…