and further up Cheyenne Creek closer to where the main stream splits at the junction of two beautiful canyons. This is where the first Sunnycrest structure was built in 1889, just outside the Colorado Springs city limits near the entrance to North Cheyenne Canyon. At least this was the year that the county tax designation changed from being vacant land to an improved property.
Apparently, an old photograph that is now lost showed that the original Sunnycrest was a simple two-story building with wood siding. It was located on the hillside rather than along the creek bottom in order to get more sun, The name "Sunnycrest" was chosen because this high spot was the last place to receive sun during the shortest day of the year, getting approximately two hours less than any other Cheyenne Canyon residence did.
SUNNYCREST BECOMES A RESORT HOUSE: 1904
The fist owner of Sunnycrest probably sold the property in the early 1900's to Lillian Casey. She was the eldest daughter in the Casey family that boasted nine children consisting of five girls and four boys. The youngest child was Grace, born in 1899. According to living relatives, Grace moved into Sunnycrest when she was five, which means Lillian bought the house in 1904. This is also the same year that Sunnycrest was listed as a "Resort House" in the Colorado Springs Register. In order to pay the bills, Lillian most likely rented rooms to tourists and also supplied them with meals. With nine children to feed, however, the Casey family was already running its own inn.
Lillian made a wise business decision to turn Sunnycrest into a resort house. Its location appealed to tourists because two years earlier in 1902, the Colorado Springs & Interurban Railway completed a brand new electric trolley line to the Stratton Park Meadows Station located directly across the street. This was a popular destination to access the canyons, picnic along Cheyenne Creek, or listen to one of the bands that played at the park pavilion. More adventurous sightseers used the terminal as a jumping off spot to visit the natural wonders at Seven Falls in South Cheyenne Canyon, or take the trails through North Cheyenne Canyon where there were plenty of dramatic rock formations and other picturesque waterfalls. Making the pilgrimage to Helen Hunt Falls, or her primitive log cabin and the nearby grave where she was buried were particularly favorite places to go. Helen Hunt was the author of "Ramona", a contemporary best-selling romantic novel about Indians.
Colorado Springs was fortunate to have such a good public transportation system, which began in 1887 when the first horse drawn trolley ran along Tejon Street between Costilla and Cache La Poudre streets. In 1890, electric cars replaced the horse drawn ones. However, it wasn't until 1900 when Cripple Creek's first millionaire, Winfield Scott Stratton, purchased the entire interurban...
