A Neighborhood with Deep Local Roots
Today, Cherry Knolls feels comfortably established: mature trees shade winding residential streets, children walk or bike to school, and neighbors gather at Cherry Field or the Cherry Knolls Swim Club on summer afternoons. Yet the community is younger than its settled appearance suggests. Most of Cherry Knolls was built during the 1960s and 1970s, when the area south of Arapahoe Road was still transitioning from open country to suburban neighborhoods.
Cherry Knolls is located in present-day Centennial, just east of Southglenn and near South University Boulevard, Arapahoe Road, Colorado Boulevard, and County Line Road. Although the neighborhood is now associated with Centennial, it predates the city by several decades. Centennial incorporated in 2001 from portions of unincorporated Arapahoe County, meaning early Cherry Knolls families originally lived in a county community rather than within a formal city. ([centennialco.gov](https://www.centennialco.gov/Government/About-Us/History?lang_update=639156359683107644&utm_source=openai))
The neighborhood’s own history describes a landscape of dirt roads, open fields, ranchland, and scattered rural buildings. In those early years, Cherry Knolls was not yet surrounded by the developed suburbs residents know today. It was, quite literally, out in the country. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/history/?utm_source=openai))
How Cherry Knolls Got Its Name
The precise origin of the name “Cherry Knolls” is not clearly documented in the neighborhood’s surviving historical records. The name appears to have been selected as part of the subdivision’s early identity, reflecting the rolling landscape and the broader tradition of using “Cherry” in local place names connected to Cherry Creek and the surrounding region.
The name also fits the setting. The area’s natural drainage and open terrain were shaped by Big Dry Creek, which runs through the broader South Suburban area and near Cherry Knolls Park. Historical accounts published by the Cherry Knolls Improvement Association note that the vicinity was once associated with placer mining along Big Dry Creek during Colorado’s earliest gold-seeking era. The creek, open land, and gently elevated ground all form part of the landscape behind the name “Cherry Knolls,” even if no single naming document has yet come to light. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2021-12-Cherry-Knolls-Newsletter.pdf?utm_source=openai))
Before the Houses: Farms, Ranchland, and Open Fields
Before the subdivision was built, the land around Cherry Knolls was part of a much more rural Arapahoe County landscape. The neighborhood history recalls that Cherry Knolls Park was once a swampy sheep pasture. The site of the present-day Cherry Knolls Shopping Center contained a farmhouse and horse stable, while land south of County Line Road belonged to the large Phipps Ranch, marked by a ranch house and several outbuildings. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/history/?utm_source=openai))
That history is easy to overlook while shopping near University Boulevard or walking along the neighborhood’s sidewalks. Still, the community’s open spaces preserve a sense of the earlier landscape. The low-lying areas around the park and creek corridors help explain why the neighborhood has long included generous green space rather than being built entirely from one property line to the next.
There was also a deeper Colorado story beneath the surface. According to a historical account in *Cherry Knolls News*, prospectors connected with William Greenberry Russell explored Big Dry Creek in 1858, before the better-known Pikes Peak gold rush of 1859. A placer mine was reportedly located in the vicinity of what is now Cherry Knolls and the neighboring Knolls subdivision. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2021-12-Cherry-Knolls-Newsletter.pdf?utm_source=openai))
The Neighborhood Takes Shape in the 1960s
Cherry Knolls was formally incorporated as a neighborhood association on May 31, 1960, when the Cherry Knolls Improvement Association filed its articles of incorporation with the State of Colorado. The subdivision was developed in eight stages, or filings, with construction taking place over nearly two decades. The principal builders were Branch and Writer, working with developer L.C. Fullerwinder. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/history/?utm_source=openai))
The earliest homes were built west of Nobles Road and east of Steele Street, between Arapahoe Road, Columbine Way, and Easter Avenue. Later filings expanded the neighborhood eastward and southward, adding homes along Cook Way, Harrison Street, Elizabeth Street, and the streets surrounding the park.
The final homes, including many near the park and along East Easter Circle, were completed approximately between 1973 and 1979. That gradual construction helps explain Cherry Knolls’ distinctive variety. Rather than being built all at once, the neighborhood grew in sections, giving it a collection of familiar mid-century home styles, changing floor plans, and subtly different streetscapes.
In the beginning, access was limited. The original entrance was at Arapahoe Road and Nobles Road, and even Arapahoe Road itself was unpaved. Children attended Lewis Ames Elementary because Carl Sandburg Elementary had not yet been built. Cherry Knolls Park was still pasture, and the surrounding fields made the community feel far removed from the busy metropolitan area developing to the north and west. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/history/?utm_source=openai))
Parks, Schools, and Places That Define the Community
For many residents, Cherry Knolls Park is the neighborhood’s most recognizable landmark. The public park is operated by South Suburban Parks and Recreation and includes playgrounds and fields used for soccer, baseball, and other activities. Its open character is a direct reminder of the pastureland that occupied the site before suburban development. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/our-community/?utm_source=openai))
Cherry Field, located on Costilla Place, offers a more intimate community gathering space. The field was created on the site of the original neighborhood tennis courts and is maintained through the Cherry Knolls Improvement Association. Next to it is the Cherry Knolls Swim Club, whose pool and tennis facilities were purchased from Fullerwinder Development in 1984 by more than 200 local residents. That purchase turned a developer-owned amenity into a resident-supported institution. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/history/?utm_source=openai))
Schools have also been central to Cherry Knolls life. Sandburg Elementary now serves as a neighborhood institution, while Newton Middle School lies near the community’s eastern edge and Arapahoe High School is within walking distance along University Boulevard. For generations of families, the ability to walk or bike to school has been one of Cherry Knolls’ most enduring advantages. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/our-community/?utm_source=openai))
The Cherry Knolls Shopping Center, near University Boulevard and Arapahoe Road, represents another important transition. Where a farmhouse and stable once stood, residents now have a convenient commercial center close to home. Across University Boulevard, Southglenn provides additional shopping, dining, library, and entertainment options. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/history/?utm_source=openai))
A Mid-Century Neighborhood That Keeps Evolving
Like many established suburban communities, Cherry Knolls has changed as its original homes have been remodeled, expanded, and occasionally replaced. Yet the neighborhood’s basic structure remains recognizable: tree-lined streets, modestly sized lots, open green spaces, and a strong relationship between homes and shared amenities.
The Cherry Knolls Improvement Association has helped preserve that continuity. Its covenants, neighborhood communications, social events, and maintenance responsibilities support a common visual identity while allowing individual homeowners to update their properties. Annual traditions—including the Fourth of July parade, block parties, Easter egg hunts, and other gatherings—keep the neighborhood’s social history alive. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/our-community/?utm_source=openai))
Today, trails connect Cherry Knolls to the South Suburban trail system and the extensive High Line Canal Trail. That connection gives residents a modern recreational network while following routes shaped by the area’s older drainage and irrigation history. ([cherryknolls.org](https://cherryknolls.org/our-community/?utm_source=openai))
What makes Cherry Knolls special is not a single historic building or monument. Its heritage is woven into ordinary places: Nobles Road, the homes along Easter Avenue, the open fields of Cherry Knolls Park, the pool beside Cherry Field, and the school routes generations of children have traveled. It is a neighborhood built from open country, strengthened by resident stewardship, and continually renewed without losing its original sense of place.