Historic Berkeley Regis

08/06/2026

Lakeside Amusement Park’s Baby Incubator Exhibit-Part 3: The Babies and Their Care

Beginning in 1898 Martin Couney created exhibits of incubator babies at amusement parks, fairs, and expositions around the US, using the slogan “All the World Loves a Baby.” In 1905 he was a founder of the Infant Incubator Company, which produced and sold incubators intended for ”hospitals and amusement parks” at a time with doctors and the general public were skeptical about the benefits of the appliances.

Couney demanded utmost cleanliness in the care of the infants on display, in part due to the influence of his wife, Annabelle, a trained nurse working with him. Doctors and nurses hired to care for the infants followed carefully established procedures that kept the babies as healthy as possible despite their physical challenges. Warm steel incubators with glass windows both helped the babies gain weight and provided visitors with views of the occupants. The Couneys encouraged the nurses to pick up the babies and cuddle them in front of the audiences.

As Rebecca R. Barry described in “Coney Island’s Incubator Babies,” all the underweight infants experienced the same care when admitted to the exhibit. This included bathing in lukewarm water and being given a small dose of brandy (“if they were capable”). A blue or pink ribbon was tied to the baby identifying its gender. They were on view throughout the day in their individual incubators, except for two hours of feeding. The infants generally were fed by wet nurses or with bottles, although some of the weakest were given milk through the nose.

Parents desperate to save the lives of their children regarded Couney as a hero. Hospitals, many without incubators until the late 1930s, sent premature babies to him, according to historian Claire Prentice. Infant care provided in the exhibit was expensive for the time, but the parents were not charged. Rather, costs were covered by visitors who paid admission fees to view the exhibitions. This enabled Couney take care of the infants, pay the staff, and move the exhibit around the country to fairs, amusement parks, and exhibitions and teach the general public and medical professionals about the benefits of incubators in saving infant lives. In addition to Lakeside, the baby incubators were displayed at amusement parks in New York, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Atlantic City, Chicago, among other locations.

Photos: Lakeside advertisement, Rocky Mountain News, 20 August 1911; photo of incubators and medical staff, Rocky Mountain News, 9 July 1911.

07/25/2026

Friday, the ACHP voted to moved forward with the gutting of the Section 106 process that is intended to make sure that significant historic properties are considered during federal projects, such as highway construction and widenings. The early 1960s route of I-70 through north Denver may not have been chosen if Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act had then been law.

07/24/2026

In case you are wondering, here is the intro on the ACHP’s website

07/23/2026

Dear members and friends of Historic Berkeley Regis,

Today we are bringing you information important to anyone who cares about the preservation of the significant historic resources in our neighborhood, city, state, and nation.

The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 created a framework for preservation of significant historic and archaeological resources that has served to identify, evaluate, and protect them in all the years since. This program provides local communities with a clear voice in determining what they believe is important and advocating for those that they feel should be preserved and protected.

On Friday the federal Advisory Council for Historic Preservation (ACHP), with 83 percent of its members appointed by President Trump, will vote on a proposal to remove the role of the public, states, and tribes in considering the impact of federal projects that will affect historic properties. This proposal will have far reaching impacts on every community, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation and other advocates for historic resources oppose it.

We hope you will contact your elected representatives to voice your opinion and concerns about proposed actions to change how our historic treasures are evaluated and preserved. HBR will not give up its efforts to identify, help preserve, and celebrate the places important to our community.

If you agree that the people of Berkeley Regis know what is important to our community and should have a voice in whether it is preserved, please leave a comment below. We will forward your messages to our city, state, and national representatives.

07/21/2026

Horseshoe Tournament

The newly refurbished Rocky Mountain Lake Park horseshoe court will host a tournament July 25th. The pits are located immediately east of the tennis courts. Does anyone know when the pits were originally constructed?

07/19/2026

A busy weekend at historic Rocky Mountain Lake Park with kids enjoying the playground and learning sports, tennis and baseball players using improved amenities, and fishers, dogs, walkers, runners, skaters, and bikers of all ages enjoying the weekend. The avian families and blooming lilies added to the scenery.

07/14/2026

Rocky Mountain Lake Park Improvements Complete
A walk around Rocky Mountain Lake Park this morning revealed that the work on the park facilities is now complete. The horseshoe pitch is ready. The reconstruction of two tennis courts is finished. They are striped for both tennis and and a youth game (not pickleball). The two new dugouts with aluminum benches are ready—estan listos para beisball!

07/10/2026

Discover Denver citywide building survey moves to Berkeley!
The Discover Denver team has been surveying in Northwest Denver, starting with the Highland and Chaffee Park neighborhoods, and now moving into Berkeley. Working closely with the Berkeley Regis United Neighbors (BRUN) and Historic Berkeley Regis (HBR), the survey will start in Berkeley in early July 2026.
Discover Denver is a project focused on identifying buildings throughout the city that have historical, architectural, or cultural significance. Community volunteers play a key role in the project, documenting the features of buildings and researching their histories.
In the coming months, you may see Discover Denver survey volunteers observing properties from the public street or sidewalk and taking notes on a building’s architectural features.
Volunteers will have project-specific identification and should identify themselves to you if asked. No one associated with Discover Denver will enter or access your property without your
permission.
A partnership between Historic Denver and the City and County of Denver, the project is funded primarily by the State Historical Fund. To learn more about Discover Denver and how you can
get involved, visit www.DiscoverDenver.co

07/09/2026

HBR hopes that you will contact Regis' librarian, Kimberly Kemp, to share your stories of the neighborhood!

A message for longtime residents of Berkeley Regis from our friends at Regis University:

Regis University is preparing to mark 150 years of history in 2027. To commemorate this milestone, librarian Kimberly Kemp is conducting an oral history project focused on the surrounding neighborhood and its relationship with the university over the decades.

The project seeks longtime area residents willing to share their memories of neighborhood life and their connections to the Regis campus. Participants' stories will be recorded in video and/or audio format and preserved in the university's digital repository for future generations. Interviews will be conducted between February and August 2026. Anyone interested in participating or seeking additional details: please contact Kimberly at [email protected].

HBR Note: We hope that everyone with memories or other types of information will send an email to Kimberly. HBR is partnering to help Regis with this effort, and we are looking forward to learning more of the stories of our neighborhood!

07/03/2026

Berkelely Park Bathhouse is used by Denver Parks and Recreation for storage and office space. HBR doesn't think it is vacant. I thought I would ask AI why the Bathhouse main entrance is boarded up.

"The main entrance to the 1913 Berkeley Park Bathhouse is covered with particle boards because the structure is currently vacant, serving primarily as a closed storage and maintenance office for Denver Parks and Recreation. The building was boarded up to protect it from weather damage, vandalism, and unauthorized entry while it sits idle.

Current Status and Future Plans
Historical Background: The building originally functioned as a public bathhouse and later as a headquarters for the Retired Men's Club and the Berkeley Park Shuffleboard Association.

The Boarding Choice: Plain particle boards are often utilized for securing vacant properties because they are highly cost-effective for functional, temporary closure, even though they are prone to moisture absorption over long outdoor exposures.

Restoration Efforts: Advocacy groups like Historic Berkeley Regis have worked with the city to fund historic assessments and usability studies. The neighborhood's goal is to remove the boards, restore its historic appearance, and reopen the interior for community activities.

If you are tracking this neighborhood project, would you like to know more about the community proposals for the space or details regarding the city's master plan for Berkeley Lake Park?"

In the future, I'll post any additional information I find.