Historic Building Survey of Galena Street, Aurora Survey Report (2004)

2003 - 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street, Aurora Survey Report March 5, 2004 Submitted By: Preservation Publishing Cathleen M. Norman, M.A., Principal 459 South Routt Way Lakewood, CO 80226

Prepared for: City of Aurora Historic Preservation Department 170 South Chambers Road Aurora, CO 80017 303 361-2997

Prepared by: Cathleen M. Norman Preservation Publishing 459 South Routt Way Lakewood, CO 80226 303 985-2599

Thanks To: Aurora Mayor, Ed Tauer Aurora City Council Nadine Caldwell, Robert Broom, Bob Fitzgerald, Ryan Frazier, Kathy Green, Steve Hogan, Ingrid Lindemann, Molly Markert, Brad Pierce, Sue Sandstrom Aurora City Clerk, Debra Johnson Aurora Historic Preservation Services, Kim White and Jim Rakke Adams County Assessor, Margaret Grondalski Aurora Planning/GIS Department, Linda Clohessy Aurora History Museum, Michelle Babe Colorado Historical Society, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation Dan Corson, Intergovernmental Services Director Dale Heckendorn, National Register Coordinator Chris Geddes, National Register Historian Lovella Learned-Kennedy, Archaeological Information Specialist

This project was initiated by the Aurora Historic Preservation Department and funded by a grant from the Certified Local Government program administered by the Colorado Historical Society.

(Grant# C0-03-012) The activity that is the subject of this material has been financed in part with Federal funds from the National Historic Preservation Act, administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior for the Colorado Historical Society. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of the Interior or the Society, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the Department of the Interior or the Society.

This program receives Federal funds from the National Park Service. Regulations of the U.S. Department of the Interior strictly prohibit unlawful discrimination in departmental Federallyassisted programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, age or handicap. Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any program, activity or facility operated by a recipient of Federal assistance should write to: Director, Equal Opportunity Program, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, Washington, D.C. 20240.

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................. I Project Purpose ........................................................................................... 3 Survey Area ................................................................................................ 4 Survey Map .................................................................................................... 5

Survey Methodology ................................................................................... 7 Historic Contexts ...................................................................................... 10 Pre-settlement ............................................................................................... 10 Agricultural Settlement and Fletcher Townsite (1860- 1907) ..................... 11 Military Growth and the Rise of Automobile Tourism ( 1918 - 1945) ......... 17 Post World War II Urbanization ( 1946 - 1960s) ........................................ .21 Galena Street Context ................................................................................... 23

Research Design ....................................................................................... 27 Survey Results .......................................................................................... 28 Recommendations ..................................................................................... 33 Bibliography ............................................................................................. 34 Glossary .................................................................................................... 36 Appendices Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D -

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Introduction Aurora is located at the eastern edge of the Denver metropolitan complex. The third largest city in Colorado, Aurora has grown rapidly during the latter half of the twentieth century.

Annexations have expanded the city northeast, east, and southeast from the historic center, the four-square-mile Fletcher townsite established in 1891. Today, Aurora is 144 square miles in size with more than 290,000 residents.

The present-day site of Aurora became a byway during Colorado's 1859- 1860 gold rush.

Stage stops were constructed along the roads that linked the mining camp of Denver with points east. Agricultural settlement began in the early 1860s with scattered farms and ranches. Aurora originated as the town of Fletcher at the northeastern most comer of the present-day city. At that time, the town consisted of 21 houses and a hotel. 1 Twelve of these original "Fletcher houses" are located on Galena Street. Several are sizable dwellings built in the gabled Queen Anne style popular in the last decades of the nineteenth century.

Other Fletcher houses are scattered on Chester, Clinton, and Dallas Streets south of Colfax; these are small plain front-gabled residen~es. Fletcher failed to prosper because of lack of water and the nationwide depression that descended in 1893.

A streetcar line was completed down East Colfax Avenue to Dayton Street in 1898, but Fletc.her remained primarily agricultural during the first decades of the twentieth century.

The business district grew gradually east ofDenver along East Colfax Avenue1concentrated east ofYosemite Street.

Military facilities have been a major economic factor in Aurora's growth and development beginning with Fitzsimons Army Medical Hospital, which opened in 1918. Lowry Air Field, developed in 1938- 1940, expanded as Lowry Air Force Base in the mid 1950s. In 1942, an auxiliary airfield and flight training school was developed; after World War II, the facility operated as the Buckley Air National Guard Base. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal also opened in 1942. These four facilities boosted Aurora's economy through civilian payroll, supply purchases, and construction of housing for workers and retired military personnel.

Following World War II, Aurora experienced rapid suburban growth, as did many cities in Colorado and elsewhere in the country. The abundance of inexpensive land and the resolution of water problems spurred residential construction that met the critical housing shortage that followed the war. Former enlisted men and women as well as military retirees made Aurora their permanent home. The city burgeoned in the 1950s with residential subdivisions and commercial development keeping pace with the growing population.

Today, Aurora growth continues, most recently influenced by the opening ofDenver International Airport to the northeast. Closure and privatization of the Fitzsimons and Lowry facilities in the 1990s provided land for residential and commercial development within the city.

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Hicks, Dave, Aurora from the Beginning, Denver: A-T-P Printing, 1977, 13.

Mehls, Steve, Carol Drake, and Jay Fell, Aurora, Gateway to the Rockies, Aurora: Cordillera Press, Inc., 1985, 90, 127.

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Introduction

In the face of burgeoning growth, the city has made many efforts to preserve its heritage.

The Aurora Historical Society was created in 1975, and the Aurora Museum opened in 1979. Located at 15051 East Alameda Parkway in the former Aurora courthouse, the museum is operated and funded by the city. Historic Preservation Inventories were conducted in 1978 and 1985, and in 1985 the City adopted a Historic Preservation Ordinance. Also in 1985, Aurora was designated as a Certified Local Government (CLG) and the City began funding a professional staff position for historic preservation. The Aurora Historic Preservation Department offices are located in the farmhouse of the Delaney Farm property at 170 South Chambers Road.

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Aurora's location on the plains east of Denver accommodated flight facilities and airfields, as well as providing abundant acreage for residential development.

Photograph courtesy of Tom Noel Collection, 1955.

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Project Purpose The 2003 - 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street was initiated to help preserve the historic character of one of Aurora's oldest areas. The Galena Street neighborhood contains a collection ofbuildings that tell the story of Aurora's initial settlement, early growth, and twentieth-century development. The survey identified and evaluated properties on Galena Street for eligibility for listing in the National Register or State Register or designation as Aurora Landmarks. The survey also evaluated the potential for a local Galena Street historic district. The information from the survey can be used to educate the public about Aurora's history and early development, and to raise community awareness about local historic resources. It will also provide the necessary information for designating new landmarks in the area.

The Galena Street Survey supports Ordinance 146, adopted by the City in 1985 to establish the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission and identify procedures and criteria for designating local landmarks. To date, designated sites include 18 properties, the Delaney Farm district, and the Toll Gate Creek Archaeological Site #I (listed in Appendix B).

Three local landmarks are located within the Galena Street survey area - Centennial House at 1671 Galena Street, the Milliken House at 163 8 Galena Street, and the residence at 2027 Galena Street.

Several earlier surveys and studies have examined Aurora's historic buildings. These include the 1978 Aurora Historic Preservation Inventory performed by Vicky Sandstead and the 1985 Aurora Historic Preservation Survey conducted by Sarah J. Pearce, in conjunction with adopting Historic Preservation Ordinance 146. These and other studies are discussed further in the Methodology chapter of this report; survey reports are listed in the Bibliography of this publication.

The 2003 - 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street inventory expands upon these earlier efforts. The survey was funded by a $25,000 Certified Local Government grant from the Colorado Historical Society. The City of Aurora provided in-kind participation through Kim White's project support and the mapping services furnished by the Aurora GIS department. The survey was conducted from June 2003 through March 2004 by Preservation Publishing, Cathleen Norman, M.A., principal.

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Survey Area The survey area consists of the 1500 - 2300 blocks of Galena Street, which occupy Range 67W, Township 3S, Section 35. The survey area is approximately 32.96 acres in size. The terrain of the survey area, and of Aurora in general, is relatively flat. The historic portion of Aurora, located at the city's far northeastern comer, is laid out on a rectilinear street grid oriented north-south and east-west. Named streets run north-south and numbered avenues run east-west. The four-square-mile Fletcher townsite established in 1891 has since been expanded to the northeast, east, and southeast by numerous annexations into the present 144-square-mile city.

The city's north-south arteries include, from west to east, Yosemite Street (Denver-Aurora city boundary), Dayton Street, Havana Street, Moline Street, Peoria Street, Potomac Street, Sable Boulevard, Chambers Road, Airport Boulevard/South Buckley Road, South Tower Road, Picadilly Road, and Gun Club Road, as well as 1225 and segments ofE470. Eastwest arteries include, from north to south, East Smith Road, Montview Boulevard, East Colfax A venue, East 6th Avenue, East Alameda Parkway, Mississippi Street, Iliff Street, Hampden Avenue, and Quincy Street.

Several federal properties occupied large holdings within the city boundaries: Fitzsimons Hospital, Lowry Air Field, Buckley Air National Guard Base, and Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Fitzsimons and Lowry have been re-developed for residential and commercial use, while the Rocky Mountain Arsenal is now a wildlife refuge. Stapleton Airport, located along Aurora's northwestern edge, has also impacted Aurora. Since the opening of Denver International Airport in the mid 1990s, this site has been redeveloped for private residential and commercial use.

The seven-block-long survey area lies between East Colfax Avenue and East 25th Avenue.

Properties of note near the survey area include: Crawford Elementary School in the 1500 block between Florence Street and Fulton Street that occupies the site ofthe 1892 Aurora School, the recently constructed Fletcher Elementary School at 10455 West 25th Avenue, and the East Colfax Avenue business district. A farm, identified in the 1930 directory as that of Lee and Edna Wellman, was located at 2502 Galena Street, adjacent to the survey area.

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Survey Area

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Survey Methodology

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The 2003 - 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street was conducted according to the guidelines from the Colorado Cultural Resource Survey Manual published by the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) at the Colorado Historical Society. The survey took place from June 2003 through March 2004. The comprehensive survey consisted of an intensive inventory of 122 properties.

The Galena Street inventory expands upon earlier efforts. In 1978, Vicky Sandstead conducted the Aurora Historic Preservation Inventory that documented and evaluated 27 properties. These included the Gully Homestead at 4901 East Dry Creek Road and the William Smith house at 412 Oswego Court; all other properties were located in the 1891 Fletcher townsite. Twelve were located on Galena Street (5AM.170- 5AM181).

Sandstead's conclusions and recommendations included designating Galena Street as a historic district. The survey contributed toward designation of the Wilson House I Centennial House at 1671 Galena Street to the National Register (5AM.l73) in 1996.

In 1985, the Aurora Historic Preservation Survey was conducted by Sarah J. Pearce in conjunction with adoption of Historic Preservation Ordinance 146 and establishment of Aurora as a Certified Local Government. The inventory surveyed 110 properties in greater Aurora, nine of which were located on Galena Street (5AM.341- 5AM.349). Pearce's survey conclusions and results included creating a National Register Multiple Property Nomination for the significant properties on Galena Street.

Additional inventory efforts within Aurora include an archaeological study of the Blanche Wilson I Centennial House conducted by Marcia and Bill Tate in 1990. Virginia Steele and Geoffrey Hunt of the Lowry History Museum conducted an architectural inventory of Fitzsimons in 1995. Survey reports from these various projects are listed in the Bibliography of this publication.

Scope of work The 2003 - 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street documented and evaluated 122 properties in the 1500- 2400 blocks of Galena Street; these are listed in the Survey Log in Appendix C. The project researched, described, and photographed the properties and produced a Colorado Historical Society Architectural Inventory Form (OAHP Form 1403) for each. The survey also created the Survey Map showing locations of all surveyed properties and this Survey Report.

Project participants Kim White, M.A., staff member of the Aurora Historic Preservation Department, performed project management and administered the CLG grant. Survey work was performed by Preservation Publishing. Cathleen M. Norman, M.A., prepared the Architectural Inventory Forms, wrote the Survey Report, and coordinated project tasks.

Ms. Norman also validated descriptions in the field, evaluated the properties, and updated the project database. Ginny Steele, M. A., conducted historic research, helped write the Historic Contexts, and reviewed the Contexts. Carole D. Cardon shot project photographs and labeled the prints. Susan Quinnell, M. A. wrote architectural descriptions from photographs. April Bernard created footprints from Assessor's office sketch maps.

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Survey Methodology

Margaret Grondalski, GIS Analyst for the Adams County Assessor's Office, provided property information. The survey map was produced by Linda Clohessy of the Aurora Planning/GIS Department. Staff members at OAHP answered questions and provided guidance.

Previously recorded properties A file search of the Galena Street properties previously recorded by the Colorado Historical Society was conducted by Lovella Learned-Kennedy in the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. Information was transmitted as a text file via e-mail, then loaded into a Microsoft Access database. This search revealed that 38 properties within the survey area had been previously recorded (listed in Appendix A). Twelve properties were documented and evaluated in the 1978 Aurora Historic Preservation Inventory and 14 in the 1985 Aurora Historic Preservation Survey/Inventory, as previously mentioned. The Wilson House at 1671 Galena Street (5AM.l73) is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Wilson House, the Milliken House at 1638 Galena Street, and the residence at 2027 Galena Street are designated as local landmarks.

Photography Photographs were taken in July 2003; additional photographs were shot in December 2003 and in February 2004. Two or more black and white, 35 millimeter photographs were taken for each property and processed as 4" X 6" prints. Garages and sheds were also photographed. A photo log listed roll number, frame number, property address, and camera direction. This information was used to generate photograph labels. Photo labels were produced from a database providing state identification number, property address, photographer's name, date, roll number and frame number, camera direction, and storage location of negatives. Survey photographs were labeled and placed in archival storage pages. Negatives were placed in archival storage pages, and stored together with the photo logs and contact sheets at the Aurora Preservation Department at 170 South Chamber Road.

Historic Research General historic information came from secondary sources. Several published histories provided background information including Aurora Gateway to the Rockies by Steve F. Mehls, Carol J. Drake, and James E. Fell, Aurora From the Beginning by Dave Hicks, and Early Aurora by Carl Vincent McFadden and Leona McFadden. Clipping files and historic photographs of Aurora were examined at the Western History Collection at the Denver Public Library, Aurora History Museum, and Stephen Hart Library at the Colorado History Museum.

Historic property ownership information came from varied sources. The information from properties surveyed in 1975 was integrated into the 2003 Inventory Forms. Additional ownership information came from 1930 and 1948 Aurora directories, 1940 Aurora telephone book, 1941 Greater Denver X-L Directory and 1952 and 1962 Greater Denver City Directories.

Preparation of Inventory Forms The Architectural Inventory Forms were prepared in a customized Microsoft Access database. Architectural descriptions were written from photographs, then validated in the field. Current ownership information, construction dates, and square footages were

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Survey Methodology

acquired from the Adams County Assessor's records. Thirty-eight property records were updated with Smithsonian identification numbers previously assigned by the Colorado Historical Society. The remainder were assigned ID numbers 5AM.1566- 5AM.l649.

UTM coordinates were derived from the Topozone.com website and identified by a section of the U.S.G.S. Fitzsimons or Montbello Quadrant map attached to each Inventory Form.

Footprints were drawn in IMSI TurboCad Designer using sketch maps provided by the Adam's County Assessor's office. Not all lots are on record with the Assessor's office, so some of the lots and lines were extrapolated on the footprint block maps.

Survey Map The Survey Map was prepared by the City of Aurora's Planning/GIS staff.

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Historic Contexts

By Cathleen Norman, Ginny Steele, and Sally Pearce Aurora is located directly east of Denver and covers 144 square miles of flat prairie land.

The early history of Aurora is related to the agricultural heritage of Eastern Colorado as well as the development of Denver during Colorado's mining boom. Establishment of Fitzsimons Hospital in 1918 initiated a trend of military installations in Aurora. Three additional military facilities opened in the 1930s and 1940s, boosting Aurora's population growth and bolstering economic development. The abundance of vacant farmland east of Aurora stimulated development of residential subdivisions beginning in the mid twentieth century. Aurora became one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.

Construction of a reservoir on the Western Slope resolved the city's water supply problems in the mid 1960s and further stimulated growth. Aurora's population has increased from 70,000 residents in 1970 to 156,000 citizens in 1980, and more than 290,000 people in 2003.

Pre-settlement Before the arrival ofEuro-Anglo settlers, Colorado's eastern plains were home to various nomadic indigenous peoples. At the time that the first Spanish explorers entered the Colorado High Plains in the 1500s, the Jicarilla Apache and the Pawnee tribes controlled much of northeast Colorado. 3 During the nineteenth century, until they were removed to reservations in the late 1860s, the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes camped and hunted in the vicinity, following game herds across the plains.

With the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the United States acquired from France the vast region west of the Mississippi. Soon, several exploration parties crossed the Great Plains and entered the Rocky Mountains to map the region's natural features and evaluate its natural resources. In 1804, Lewis and Clark went west to explore the Missouri River and the Pacific Northwest. Zebulon Pike's exploration party investigated the Arkansas and Red Rivers that formed the new Spanish-U.S. border in 1806. Stephen Long led an expedition to the headwaters of the South Platte River in 1820, entering present-day Colorado at the northeastern corner and following the South Platte and its North Fork into the Rocky Mountains. Long's depiction of the Great Plains as the "Great American Desert" discouraged settlement for several decades afterward and realistically reflected the scarcity of water that would later afflict Aurora development. During the 1840s, Captain John C. Fremont led five different expeditions into the Rocky Mountain region.

Early development of this region was associated with the fur trade and early transportation.

Five major streams pass through what is now Aurora, tributary to the South Platte River: Cherry Creek, Toll Gate Creek, Unnamed Creek, Columbia Creek, and Sand Creek (see map on page 13). Along these creeks passed several major trails that served the native tribes and the fur traders who frequented the Rocky Mountains and the Front Range in the first half of the nineteenth century. These included the South Platte Trail, Republican River Road, Old Cherokee Trail, and north branch of the Smoky Hill Trail, which became 3

Mehls, Drake, and Fell, 3.

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Historic Contexts

important routes for travelers who entered the region once gold had been discovered here.

Stage stations sprang up along these trails, followed by ranches and farms. Soon, merchants and businessmen joined the steady stream of miners headed for this area.

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The William Green Russell party discovered gold at the confluence of South Platte and Cherry Creek in 1858, launching the mineral rush that brought nearly 100,000 gold seekers across the Great Plains. Although many prospectors soon returned to the eastern states discouraged, the initial influx became the impetus for establishing Denver as a stagestop and a supply town. This role expanded with the arrival of the railroads in the early 1870s and with the cultivation of land .

Agricultural Settlement and Fletcher Townsite (1860 ¡1907) Agriculture Many of the early settlers originally came to the mining camps in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. For a variety of reasons, these Argonauts became disillusioned with the promise of wealth, and many elected to settle on the plains near Denver and farm. Thomas and Magdalene Fahey, of Irish descent, are believed to be the first permanent settlers, establishing a ranch in 1867 near East Colfax Avenue and Sable Street, which eventually expanded into an operation with 10,000 cattle. 4 By 1868, the Gully and Delaney families had come from the Central City area to homestead in the area. (The John Gully Homestead House, built in 1871 and the oldest surviving dwelling in Aurora was moved to 200 South Chambers Road, is listed in the National Register and is an Aurora landmark.) To serve the growing number of farm families, John and Elizabeth Gully opened the first school, the Tollgate schoolhouse, in 1877 on their ranch near present-day Mississippi Street and Chambers Road. 5 The Delaney Farm complex at 1709 South Chambers Road is a designated local historic district and a National Register District. It consists of the 1892 farmhouse, several outbuildings, agricultural fields, and portions of Toll Creek and the High Line Canal). Construction of irrigation systems in the 1880s, most importantly the High Line Canal, further expanded farming and ranching. Agricultural activity would remain a prominent element of the local economy through the mid twentieth century.

Railroad In 1870, two ~ailroads reached Denver, ushering in a new era of development- the Denver Pacific from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and the Kansas Pacific from Leavenworth, Kansas. The Kansas Pacific line ran east-west through present-day Aurora approximately following what is now Smith Road. The railroad had far-reaching economic effects on Colorado and Denver. Commercial leaders promoted the city extensively and attracted Eastern and British capital to fund various ventures, including railroad construction, mining, milling, ranching, and water development.

Aurora was greatly influenced by the land grant incentives provided to the railroads, which impacted early land-use and development patterns. Each railroad received a right-of-way together with alternate 640-acre sections of federal land, in a band that stretched from ten to eighty miles wide. These federal land grants created an enormous checkerboard stretching 4

City of Aurora Timeline, Aurora, Aurora History Museum, 2000, p.l.

s Ibid.

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Historic Contexts

across the prairie. The railroads sold the unused land to farmers, ranchers, and real estate companies. Eastern and British investment companies sold real estate acquired from the railroad.

Eventually, the Denver Pacific and Kansas Pacific railroads merged into the Union Pacific Railroad Company. The Union Pacific became one of the largest landholders in the nation and remained an important force in the development of Aurora for more than a century.

Real estate and water development

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Real estate speculation promoted the early growth in present-day Aurora. As Denver burgeoned with commerce and industry during the 1880s, the crowded and polluted conditions encouraged affluent residents to relocate to neighborhoods outside the urban center. This stimulated speculative development on vacant land surrounding the city. Land speculators acquired acreage by purchasing it directly from the Government Land Office for $1.25 an acre or by buying large parcels from the railroad companies, which had obtained millions of acres from federal land grants.

Real estate development was entirely dependent upon development of water supply systems. Water was essential to both agriculture and residential growth. A group of English and Scottish investors formed the Colorado Mortgage and Investment Company, commonly known as the English Company. Led by James Duff, this group initiated numerous irrigation projects in Greeley, Fort Collins, and Denver, and invested in land along the canals. Most notable was the 71-mile-long High Line Canal, constructed in the 1880s to bring water from the South Platte River to south Denver and the farms of Adams County, which at that time composed eastern Arapahoe County (see map on the next page).

Another British company, the Platte Land Company, also run by Duff and by Lord James Barclay of the London banking family, purchased land from the railroad and leased acreage to the farmers they hired. Prominent Aurora residents William Smith and George Adam were among the farmers brought over from Europe to manage and farm the company's land. Both Smith and Adam eventually owned their own farms along what is now East 6th Avenue. Canal construction also provided employment for Aurora's farmers, who worked as laborers and supervisors on the project.ieft-. (Eventually, the English Company operated the Windsor Farm located between Denver and Aurora and built the Barclay Building and the Windsor Hotel in Denver, neither extant.)

Wealthy Denverites who had prospered in the booming Denver real estate market of the 1880s also looked east. Investors created the Montclair Town and Improvement Company and platted the suburban neighborhood as an elite subdivision beyond the east edge of Denver. Montclair's leading promoter, Baron Walter von Richtofen, arrived in Denver from Germany in the 1870s and invested in ventures of varied success before becoming involved in the Montclair Company in 1885. Montclair was planned as a "club of families of congenial tastes, united for the purpose of excluding all that might destroy their peace or offend their better tastes." To attract the desired type of family to the area, covenants were imposed requiring that homes be at least three stories high and cost a minimum of $10,000.

The board of trustees also retained approval authority over the plans for all houses in the community. Baron von Richtofen built a stone castle and created Montclair Ditch, drawing water from the High Line Canal Company's Windsor Lake, in an effort to landscape the barren prairie.

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The Baron's vision of an elite neighborhood of elegant homes never saw fruition. Instead, Montclair was annexed to Denver in 1902 and developed with middle and upper-middle class residences. The elite subdivision scheme inspired other investors to accumulate land east of Montclair. Thus, Fletcher was developed as the "Poor Man's Montclair," where the middle class merchant and professional could acquire a suburban home.

During the 1880s and early 1890s, real estate speculation, coincident with the major mining booms, stimulated real estate subdivision along East Colfax Avenue. Donald F. Fletcher, who had come to Colorado in 1879, was a leading entrepreneur involved in real estate speculation. Believing that Denver's real estate boom would continue indefinitely, Fletcher, along with Thomas S. Hayden, Samuel Marston Perry and family, and others looked east along Colfax Avenue for future development. In 1889, Hayden platted the Aurora Subdivision, followed by the Perrys' New England Heights in 1890. By 1890, Fletcher, Perry, and Hayden had consolidated their real estate holdings as the Colfax Trust Company. The three partners soon incorporated the Colfax Avenue Railway Company that year to provide transportation from Denver eastward; a streetcar line finally reached Dayton Street in Aurora. 6 In 1891, Fletcher, Perry, and Hayden incorporated the four-square-mile townsite of Fletcher from the Colfax Trust holdings (see the map on the next page). Bounded by present-day East 6th Avenue, East 26th Avenue, Peoria Street, and Yosemite Street, the townsite consolidated the subdivisions of Aurora, New England Heights, Boston Heights, Colfax Villa, Colfax Square, Brooklyn, Lincoln Club, Elsmere, and Fletcher's Colfax Avenue Park. The town founders met at the Milliken House at 1638 Galena Street (5AM.172), originally named Hathaway Street, where they elected H. M. Milliken as mayor. The townsite contained 21 buildings and 36 residents. 7 Donald F. Fletcher, the town's namesake, was a Canadian native who had arrived in Denver in 1879 after residing in Chicago for 13 years. He worked briefly as a clerk for the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, then opened a real estate office in the early 1880s. 8 During the next decade, he became involved in a number of increasingly successful ventures. He subdivided Fletcher's Capitol Hill Addition, east of Broadway between East Sixth and Eighth Avenues, and he marketed up to 3,000 residential lots on Capitol Hill. In 1888, Fletcher became president of the Denver Chamber of Commerce. He also organized the Fairmount Cemetery Association in 1891, which developed the expansive burial ground southeast of Quebec Boulevard and Alameda Parkway six miles southeast of downtown Denver, and he became Fairmount's first president. His most enduring project was establishing his namesake town, which evolved into present-day Aurora.

6

Hayden was an original director of the Denver Union Water Company and the South Platte Canal and Reservoir Company that built Cheesman Dam on the North Fork of the South Platte River; Smiley, 803.

Perry was an incorporator of the Denver & Northwestern Railroad and an investor and director of the Leyden Coal Mine and Denver Tramway Company; Robert A. LeMassena, Colorado's Mountain Railroads, Denver: Sundance Books, 1982, 114.

7 Hicks, 13.

8 Hicks, 10- II.

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Historic Contexts

The Fletcher townsite failed to prosper for two reasons- the scarcity of water and the economic depression that swept Colorado and the rest ofthe country in 1893. Various attempts were made to store and sell water to Fletcher residents, and the town tried to become self-sufficient and survive on its own suoply. Donald Fletcher established the East Denver Water Company, and the town took on bonded indebtedness. It became apparent that the only solution was to purchase water from the Denver Union Water Company in 1902; Aurora continued to purchase water from Denver until the 1960s .

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I Fletcher townsite. established in 1891

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HEIGHTS

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Historic Contexts

The Silver Crash and Panic of 1893 brought hard times on the nation, Colorado, and Fletcher. Real estate prices collapsed; many early speculators, Donald Fletcher among them, were ruined; and residents of Fletcher went so far as to vote for annexation to help alleviate financial woes. The Perry family managed to hold on to their property by becoming less dependent on real estate sales and getting involved in the Denver Tramway Company The problem of transportation for the satellite city was resolved in 1898 by extension of the street car line east from York Street along East Colfax Avenue to Dallas Street, then eastward to Galena Street. 9 The line was taken over by the Denver Tramway Company the following year. The town's business district gradually developed along East Colfax Avenue where the streetcar provided the link to downtown Denver.

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YOU CAN MAKE MONEY WHILE YOU SLEEP:-

AURORA THE BEAUTIFUL: (A.,:::-g:_,)

Developers promoted real estate in Aurora with this brochure, ca 1910, courtesy Colorado Historical Society.

The fledgling community gained rudimentary public amenities in its first decades. The first public schoolhouse was the Emma Crawford School, erected in 1892 in the 1500 block of Florence Street just west ofthe survey area. (John and Elizabeth Gully had established the first rural schoolhouse, Tollgate, at their ranch near Mississippi Street and Chambers Road in 1877.) Wooden boardwalks were constructed along segments of East Colfax Avenue in the business district during the 1890s and the Colorado Telephone Company began service to Fletcher residents in 1900. The Aurora Presbyterian Church organized in 1907 and erected the first church building at East 17th Avenue and Elmira Street. The first city hall was constructed in 1907 at East 16th Avenue Aurora's first town ball, 1907, photo and Elmira Street and contained police from Early Aurora. offices, the fire department, and upstairs meeting hall of the Odd Fellows and Masons .

9

Smiley, Jerome, HisiOJ)' ofDenver, 1901, reprinted., Denver: Old Americana Publishing Company, 1978, 864.

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Historic Contexts

By 1900, Denver had achieved a population of 130,000, while Fletcher remained a hamlet of 202 residents surrounded by extensive agricultural acreage. 10 In 1902, the large County of Arapahoe was divided into five parts. Aurora became split between two counties, with East Colfax the north-south dividing line between Arapahoe County and Adams County .

In 1904, the Mount Nebo Cemetery, a Jewish burial ground, opened at 11658 East Colfax.

Fearing development of other graveyards , Aurora city council adopted an ordinance prohibiting additional cemeteries within city limits.

In January 1907, the residents of Fletcher petitioned to change the name of their town to Aurora, and the name was officially changed in spring ofthat year. By 1910, Aurora's population had reached 697 .

Agriculture continued as the leading economic force. A new industry was created in Fletcher for arborists such as E. H. Guthiel, who supplied trees and shrubs for Denver Mayor Robert Speer's City Beautiful movement. Agricultural productivity stimulated growth in Fletcher's business community as area farmers came to town for supplies.

Numerous farms provided dairy products for delivery into Denver. These included the City Park Farm, Chicago, Cambridge, and Fitzpatrick Dairies, and the White Beauty, Aurora, and Belle Ranche Poultry Farms. In addition, many Aurora residents had their own chicken pen and dairy cow in the backyard to supply the family table. Crops included wheat and hay, with greater diversification in the 1920s through the 1940s. Farming would remain a strong economic factor until after World War II .

Agriculture remained a vital part of the local economy into the mid twentieth century, ca 1910, photo from Early Aurora.

Military Growth and the Rise of Automobile Tourism (1918 -1945)

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The outbreak ofWorld War I brought a measure of prosperity to Aurora with its increased demand for agricultural products. In 1918, the Army Medical Corps established a recuperative center in Aurora for war casualties. Many veterans who recovered at Fitzsimons chose to remain in Aurora. The abundance ofundeveloped land and lobbying by members of the Denver business community persuaded the federal government to establish additional military sites in Aurora, which contributed to the city's economic development. Increased motor travel on Colfax Avenue also stimulated commercial and lodging businesses from the late 1920s on.

10

Smiley, 651.

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8

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Historic Contexts

Military Growth

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Military facilities have exerted a strong influence on Aurora's economy. The military presence began with Fitzsimons Army Hospital in 1918. The town of Aurora and the Denver Civic and Commercial Association were involved in persuading the U.S. Government to locate the military facility in Aurora, selecting the site, and raising funds for initial development. The federal government acquired a 160-acre parcel that contained alfalfa fields, apple orchards, unbroken prairie, and the Guthiel Park Nursery that occupied the southwest comer.

Construction ofthe U.S. Recuperative Camp began in April1918 and the facility opened October 13, 1918. U.S. General Army Hospital #21 was named Fitzsimons after First Lieutenant Dr. William T. Fitzsimons of Kansas City, the first American officer killed in World War I. Development ofFitzsimons created jobs for Aurora residents and also attracted new workers who settled in the community. The effort involved developing the water and sewer system and the streets, fencing the property, installing electricity and water supplies from Denver, and extending the railroad from Sable Boulevard. Workers constructed eighty buildings, including the hospital, heliotherapy ward for tuberculosis patients, central power plant, and numerous barracks and support buildings. A boot repair shop, print shop, horticulture school, and other facilities provided convalescents with civilian skills. By 1929, the landscaped grounds contained more than 15,000 trees, a baseball diamond, golf course, trap shooting range, archery range, dance halls, a moving picture "outfit," and a Red Cross lounge. The largest U. S. Government general hospital, it had 2,100 beds. 11 Espousing a mission of "physical reconstruction, the mental development, and the technical education of disabled veterans," Fitzsimons continued operation until the early 1990s. Fitzsimons had a substantial impact on Aurora by providing employment for numerous citizens and sustaining vendors and merchants who supplied the hospital with goods and services. Aurora also served as a bedroom community for military and civilian personnel who were unable to live on the post.

A number of physicians and other military personnel retired in Aurora after they completed their military duty. Ex servicemen also made the city their home. Fitzsimons encouraged increased commercial 11

Agnes Phipps Sanitarium was developed as Lowry Air Force Base, bolstering the local economy.

Photo, ca 1937, from Early Aurora.

McFadden, Carl Vincent and Leona M. McFadden, Early Aurora, Aurora: Aurora Technical Center, 1978,457- 462; "A City within A City," Denver: Denver Municipal Facts, July- August, 1929, 8, 9.

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Historic Contexts

development along East Colfax Avenue in the vicinity of Peoria, adjacent to the facility, and during the 1920s, local business people constructed motels and restaurants to meet the needs of visitors and patients at Fitzsimons. By 1930, Aurora's population had reached 1,925 and growth continued into the 1930s .

The Great Depression, brought on by the 1929 stock market crash, created more hardships for area farmers who had already suffered through bad times during the 1920s, but the effects of the Depression in general were slow in reaching Aurora. The city was able to maintain some of its pre-Crash momentum into 1930 and 1931. By 1932, unemployment began to increase. The presence of Fitzsimons Army Hospital, with its large payrolls and expenditures, helped Aurora make it through the Depression. Many local businesses remained afloat because of Fitzsimons. The hospital provided employment for many local residents, including a number of people living in the Galena Street neighborhood. (The. Main Hospital Building at Fitzsimons at 12101 East Colfax Avenue is listed in the State Register, 5AM.123.28) .

Additional military facilities had a major economic impact on Aurora. Lowry Air Field, developed in 1938- 1940 for a cost of more than $3 million, provided instruction for technical Air Force personnel. The facility played a crucial role in training troops during World War II, training as many as 55,000 soldiers a year. Nearly 41,000 pilots graduated from Lowry between 1940 and 1945. Named for Lieutenant Francis Brown Lowry, the only Colorado aviator killed in World War I, the facility was constructed on the north side of East Colfax Avenue between Peoria Street and Potomac Street. The City of Denver purchased the Agnes Phipps Sanitorium on a 880-acre site and donated it as inducement for the federal facility to be located near Denver. The Mission Revival style hospital building was converted into the Army Air Force base headquarters and brick barracks and temporary frame barracks were erected. Runways were installed and hangars erected. The property was soon expanded with an additional 960 acres for auxiliary landing fields.

Eventually, the property contained more than 600 buildings. Developing the base employed nearly 1,500 Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers. Training consisted of armament and aerial photography. The facility experienced a $7 million expansion and reopened as Lowry Army Air Force Base in the mid 1950s. Lowry expanded further during the Korean War, training 10,000 men per year. In 1955, the facility became the summer white house for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Lowry was a precursor to the Air Force Academy, developed north of Colorado Springs in the 1960s. 12 The military presence in Aurora was further expanded in 1942 when the 64,000-acre Lowry auxiliary field was developed for bombing practice east of Buckley Road between East 6th Avenue and Jewell Avenue. Constructed at a cost of$15 million, the facility was named for First Lieutenant John Harold Buckley, a native Coloradan killed during World War I. During World War II, the fighter aircraft armament school at Buckley was the largest in the nation. Toward the end of the war, training schools included advanced armament, military police, flying continuation, and Arctic training. Training classes for the Army Air Corps Technical Training Command were held at Buckley until 1946. The U.S. Navy acquired the base in 194 7 and operated the air station until 1959. A majority of the buildings, declared surplus, were removed from the base by a civilian contractor and sold to private 12M

ehls, Drake, and Fell, 90; McFadden, 444 - 446.

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Historic Contexts

citizens. The Colorado National Guard took over Buckley in 1959. only active military site in Aurora today.

13

Buckley remains the

A fourth military site opened in the Aurora vicinity in 1942, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.

The $62.4 million plant employed 3,000 military and civilian workers during its peak wartime production. 14 Today, it has been converted into a wildlife refuge.

The four facilities enhanced Aurora's identity as Denver's military suburb. A direct effect was increased population, as the civilian workforce serving the bases increased and as exservicemen, retired military, and recuperated war veterans made Aurora their residence.

The influx of military personnel and increase in civilian payroll increased the demand for housing. In 1941, Helen Bonfils and Associates created a new subdivision along Havana Street, south of East Colfax Avenue, to provide more housing for employees on the Lowry base, beginning the shift of residential growth eastward and away from East Colfax Avenue. In 1946, a military Quonset hut was converted into a much celebrated movie theater, now the Fox Theater at 9900 East Colfax Avenue (5AM.5), now the Aurora Fox Arts Center.

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Automobile Tourism Automobile tourism rose as a vital economic force beginning in the 1920s and auto travel continued to spur growth along East Colfax Avenue as the streetcar was gradually replaced by the automobile. In the 1920s, Colfax Avenue became a segment of one of the first federally designated highways in Colorado, U.S. 40, which followed Colfax Avenue through Denver and continued east to Limon and beyond. Merchants along the route profited by meeting the needs of out-of-state tourists. Small businesses opened along East Colfax Avenue -roadside markets, produce stands, refreshment stands, roadhouse taverns, filling stations, and auto repair garages . .------------------------------------, Located at the eastern edge of the Denver metropolitan area, Aurora marketed itself as the "Gateway to the Rockies." As auto travel increased, overnight facilities improved in size, comfort, and amenities, and several cottage camps and motor courts sprang up along East Colfax Avenue.

Restaurants and filling stations also catered to the traveling public. In 1935, the Colorado Business Directory lists in Aurora the Blue Cabin Cottage Camp, Hart's Park Tourist Camp, Oakhurst Filling stations, auto courts, restaurants Cabins, N. I. Robinson Cottage Camp and other businesses that served travelers and Filling Station, Santa Rosa Cottage, and tourists flourished in Aurora along Star-Light Cottage Camp, and True Rest East Colfax A venue.

Cottage Camp, as well as eight filling Photo, ca 1925, from Early Aurora. stations. In 1940, the directory lists the 13

McFadden, 448-449. ehls, Drake, and Fell, 92.

14M

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Historic Contexts

Aurora Cottage Camp, Dutch Mill Auto Camp, Golden West Auto Camp, Golden West Cottages, Oakhurst Cabins, N. I. Robinson cottage camp and filling station, Royal Villa Tourist Cottages, Santa Rosa Cottages, True Rest Cottage Camp, and E. C. Weston auto tourist camp, as well as twelve filling stations. By 1940, a good number of military-related travelers also patronized these lodgings .

Agriculture Initially, World War I increased agricultural production and prices, and helped maintain the economy. Overproduction and plummeting prices for farm goods plagued the agricultural industry during.the 1920s and 1930s in Aurora as elsewhere in the country. Yet, as late as 1940, agriculture remained a dominant economic activity in Adams and Arapahoe Counties. Between World War I and World War II, there were nearly 100 farms in Aurora, most selfsustaining with a few milk cows, pigs for family use, and laying hens that produced eggs for "egg money" and home use. During this period, crops included sorghum, barley, feed quality com, pinto beans, and alfalfa. 15 The world's largest hatchery and chicken farm was located at West 7th A venue and Dayton Street. Several rabbit farms, fox farms, and mink farms also operated in Aurora. Orchards and honey hives flourished too. Agriculture diminished Many of the small farms ringing the to a non-existent part of the local city were developed as reside~tial economy during the latter half of the subdivisions after World War II. twentieth century, and farm properties Photo, ca 1950, from Early Aurora. provided room for residential and commercial development.

Post World War II Urbanization (1946- 1960s) After the end of World War II, efforts to promote Aurora as a residential suburb of Denver began in earnest. New subdivisions popped up everywhere as growth in Aurora took off.

Population tripled from 1940 to 1946 with over 10,000 residents in Aurora. Proexpansionists ran the government in Aurora during the 1950s and encouraged rapid growth and development, marketing Aurora as a "friendly hometown only minutes from the hustle and bustle ofDenver." 16 The city underwent a number of annexations and developments east and southeast of the city limits in the early 1950s, residential subdivisions distant from the original center of Aurora on East Colfax A venue. This trend followed the shift that had begun in 1942 with 1sM cFadden, 100.

16Meh1s, Drake, and Fell, 103.

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Historic Contexts

Helen Bonfils' development of the Havana Subdivision. Hoffman Heights opened east of the city limits at Peoria Street. The square-mile subdivision was developed by Sam Hoffman, a Russian immigrant who had constructed homes in Phoenix, Arizona. By 1954, when the subdivision was annexed to the City of Aurora, 7,000 people lived in Hoffman Heights. The annexation was challenged by a number of Hoffman Heights residents, who wanted to incorporate as a separate city. They filed a law suit that eventually was appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court, which ruled that the annexation had been legal. 17 Commercial development also shifted east and south, as developers constructed neighborhood shoppettes to serve the burgeoning subdivisions. The Hoffman Heights Shopping Center opened around 1950 and others sprang up along Montview Boulevard. In the mid 1950s, retail businesses opened on Havana Street south of East 6th Avenue, drawing customers away from the East Colfax Avenue merchants. Aurora followed the national trend of indoor shopping malls. Buckingham Square opened around 1965 at South Havana Street and Mississippi Street. It was soon eclipsed by the Aurora Mall, which opened in 1975 bounded by Abilene Street, Sable Boulevard, Chambers Road, and Exposition Avenue. The shift of commercial retail eastward negatively impacted the Colfax A venue merchants and the commercial mix shifted from retail stores to pawn shops, taverns, and marginal businesses .

Ongoing expansion heightened the need for water. Aurora had been buying water from the Denver Water Board since the 1890s; the city opted to develop its own water supply system. Construction began on the Homestake Creek and Reservoir in 1963 to collect and pump water from the Continental Divide to the Front Range for Aurora's use. The project was completed in 1967 and allowed for further development in Aurora.

Aviation industry Stapleton Air Field opened east of Denver near Aurora's western border in the 1920s.

Critics derided its remote location, the facility developed into a busy urban airport in the latter half of the twentieth century. With Lowry Air Force Base and Buckley Field located within Aurora and with Stapleton Field nearby, several industries related to aviation and aeronautics opened in the city. In 1954, Stanley Aviation ofBuffalo, New York moved to the site of the former Aurora dump at Dayton Street and East 25th A venue. The firm manufactured flight ejection seats, emergency exit devices, and couplings.

17

Mehls, Drake, and Fell, 135- 140.

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Historic Contexts

Galena Street Context The Galena Street survey area reflects some of the forces that spurred Aurora's initial settlement and shaped its early growth. The neighborhood serves as a microcosm of the city's history from earliest days to present times.

Galena Street has received much attention as one of the city's oldest neighborhoods and as the location of some of Aurora's oldest properties. Donald Fletcher developed Galena Street, originally called Hathaway Street, in 1890 as the centerpiece of his four-square mile Fletcher townsite. According the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form prepared by Dawn Callouet in 1996, Fletcher built 14 Queen Anne style houses on Hathaway Street between 1890 and 1892. The 1978 Inventory identified the following Galena Street residences as the remaining "Fletcher Houses": 5AM.l72 5AM.173 5AM.l74 5AM.l75 5AM.l76 5AM.l77 5AM.178 5AM.l79 5AM.l80 5AM.l81

163 8 Galena Street 1671 Galena Street 1780 Galena Street 1788 Galena Street 1960 Galena Street 2027 Galena Street 2074 Galena Street 2083 Galena Street 2226 Galena Street 2280 Galena Street

These consist of one-and-one-half-story or two-story houses designed in the Queen Anne style or possessing modest Queen Anne ornamentation such as gable-end shingles. Only a few of these Fletcher Houses retain architectural integrity. Alterations have included application of stucco or horizontal siding to the exterior and replacement of windows; one dwelling has received an unsympathetic addition. The most intact Fletcher Houses are 163 8 Galena Street (5AM.172), 1671 Galena Street (5AM.l73), and 2027 Galena Street (5AM.l77). All are designated as Aurora landmarks. The Blanche Wilson House at 1671 Galena Street i s also listed in the National Register.

The seven-block-long survey area reflects other Aurora themes and trends, such as the city's agricultural setting. For decades, only farmland existed north of West 25th Avenue, which served as Aurora's northern boundary. A farm, identified in the 1930 directory as that of Lee and Edna Wellman, was located at 2502 Galena Street, adjacent to the survey area.

The Galena Street neighborhood is anchored on the south end by East Colfax Avenue and a few business owners resided here. Charles Tovatt, proprietor of Alice Filling Station resided at 1532 Galena Street in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Arthur Stark, owner of Aurora Floral resided at 1540 Galena Street in the 1940s. B. J. Loucks, proprietor of Piggly Wiggly grocery, resided at 1641 Galena Street in the 1930s and 1940s. The neighborhood also was impacted by the increase in travel on Colfax Avenue and transience

23

Historic Contexts

oflocal residents with the early 1940s opening Spark's Trailer Park at what is now the Galena Apartments at 1575 Galena Street.

Initial settlement was diffused, with only one or two houses per block. In ensuing decades, houses were constructed on the vacant lots between the Fletcher Houses. These properties typify the minor growth that occurred in the 1920s and 1930s, primarily due to the establishment and expansion of Fitzsimons Army Hospital. They also reflect popular styles from the 1920s or they exemplify the modest size and cheap materials used in residential construction during the Great Depression.

Aurora thrived during World War II on account of the Fitzsimons and Lowry facilities.

The presence of these federal/military sites is reflected in the number of civilian employees and retired military who resided on Galena Street. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, a few houses were built, again small in size and modest in design.

In contrast to the residential boom that followed World War II elsewhere in Aurora, Galena Street experience little growth. A few Ranch style houses were erected on the remaining empty lots, but the main thrust for residential growth in Aurora was east and south of the Fletcher townsite. As newer subdivisions opened at the outer edges of town, Galena Street and the rest of original Aurora declined in desirability. Property ownership tended toward absentee owners and rental properties. Several Fletcher Houses were subdivided into apartments.

In the 1960s and 1970s, two large apartment buildings were erected in the neighborhood, as were two multi-story commercial buildings north of Colfax Avenue. Each ofthese replaced a historic dwelling.

In recent decades, a revived inter-est and pride in Galena Street has occurred. The City of Aurora acquired the property at 1671 Galena Street, restoring it as an architectural example and symbol of Aurora's origins as a speculative townsite. Private owners have restored several other Fletcher houses. Recent urban renewal activity is reviving Colfax Avenue as an Arts District- Original Downtown Aurora.

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Historic Contexts

Architectural Styles The survey area contains a range of residential designs and architectural styles. Many dwellings are vernacular and others are modest versions of architectural styles popular elsewhere in Colorado and the U.S. There are few intact examples ofhistoric commercial styles or building types within the survey area.

Vernacular (1890 -1950)

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A majority of the properties in the Galena Street survey area reflect no specific architectural style. Those constructed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century possess a front-gabled or gabled-L roof form and woodframe construction with clapboard exterior. Most have front porches and a few possess extant outbuildings. Some of the vernacular dwellings constructed in the 1920s through 1940s possess a hipped roof and a few have stuccoed exterior walls. The duplex at 163211636 Galena Street (5AM.1574) is a good example of vernacular design during the early 1940s.

Queen Anne ( 1890 - 1900) Several Queen Anne style dwellings are found in Edgewater. This exuberant, elaborate style was introduced from England to the U.S. at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and flourished across the country during the prosperous 1880s and early 1890s. Characteristic elements are one-and-one-half-story height, multiple gables, asymmetrical massing, and contrasting exterior materials, such as brick, clapboards, and wood shingles. Other Queen Anne features include bay windows, turrets, towers, and porches decorated with elaborate woodworking, such as turned porch posts, spindlework balusters, and sunburst designs. The best examples are 1671 Galena Street (5AM.l73) and 2027 Galena Street (5AM.177).

Classic Cottage ( 1900 - 1915) The Classic Cottage is a one-story, hipped-roof dwelling with a dormer and prominent front porch featuring classic columns. The symmetrical massing and lack of ornament reflected the trend toward less elaborate design in the early twentieth century. It is a smaller version of the Foursquare, being only one story but typically containing into four rooms. The dwelling may be of frame construction or brick. A hipped dormer is a standard feature.

Windows are typical 1-over-1 double hung; brick houses have segmental arched windows.

Some houses have flared eaves. Most have a half-hipped or shed-roofed projection on the rear. The best example is 1590 Galena Street (5AM.342).

Craftsman (1910- 1935) During the 1920s and 1930s, a number of residences were built in the Craftsman style, popular throughout the country. Architectural features include a low-sloping gabled roof, exposed rafter ends, clipped gable ends, and a front porch, often with battered porch piers or porch columns supporting porch posts. The residences at 1601 Galena Street (5AM.343) and 1615 Galena Street (5AM.344) are examples ofthe Craftsman style. The residence at 1620 Galena Street (5AM.l572) is an example ofthe one-story version ofthis style, referred to as "Craftsman Bungalows."

25

Historic Contexts

English Norman Cottage (1920- 1939) The English Norman Cottage was another popular style during the interwar decades.

Architectural features include a steeply pitched roof, vertical orientation, prominent exterior chimney, vestibule-entry, and round-topped door. The dwelling at 1550 Galena Street (5AM.1568) is a good example ofthis style and the only example in the Galena Street survey area.

Mission ( 1900 - 1930) The Mission style is distinguished by a curvilinear parapet, smooth exterior walls and semicircular arched openings. Roofs have overhanging eaves with exposed rafters and a sometimes a round window is found in the gable end. The dwelling only at 1540 Galena Street (5AM.170) is a good example of this style and the only example in the Galena Street survey area.

Minimal Traditional (1935 - 1950) This unadorned style reflected the modest means and sober mood during the period marked by the Great Depression and World War II. Small in size and modest in design, Minimal Traditional houses are typically one-story in height on a raised foundation. They are typically side gabled with a front-facing gable or gabled projection and minimal eaves.

Most have exteriors of horizontal siding. Ornamentation consists of little more than decorative window shutters and/or gable end facing of vertical boards. Other features include metalframe casement windows. Entry treatments include an entry porch, stoop cover, or a vestibule. The best example of this style is the residence at 1788 Galena Street (5AM.175).

Ranch (1945- 1965) The Ranch style house was the favored design in postwar suburban neighborhoods, and several are found in the survey area. Design elements include one-story height, a low pitched, hipped or side-gabled roof, small front porch or stoop cover, picture window, minimal decorative detail, and attached garage. The residence at 1652 Galena Street (5AM.1577) is an unaltered example ofthis style.

Building Types Properties in the survey area consist primarily of residences, which include two large 1960s - 1970s apartment buildings (1575 Galena Street and 1600 Galena Street), three duplexes (162611628 Galena Street, 1632/1636 Galena Street, and 1632/1636 Galena Street), and 110 single dwellings. Exceptions are the two multi-story commercial buildings at 1504 Galena Street and 1532 Galena Street and the churches at 1590 Galena Street and 2385 Galena Street.

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Research Design The purpose of a research design is to define the scope of the survey and to define a set of expectations prior to the start of the project.

Research Questions Research questions focused upon the nature and integrity of existing historic resources that are associated with the growth and development of Aurora as reflected by the properties in the 1500- 2300 blocks of Galena Street. Primary questions attempt to determine how existing resources provide information about development: Which buildings are important to historic themes, such as transportation, agriculture, settlement and town building, or military development? What is the state of integrity of these buildings and how many remain?

Other questions sought to identify broader influences on the resources: How have economic and social conditions affected the area and its historic resources? How have local, state, and national events and trends impacted the survey area?

Architectural questions included: What are the prominent architectural styles and building types on Galena Street? What construction materials were used and what is the quality of craftsmanship? Are there buildings that were architect designed? If so, who designed them? Are these buildings the work of a master? Who were the prominent local builders?

Finally, questions also investigated building use: Are there diverse building functions in the area? How have the buildings evolved during the twentieth century? How did the character of the area evolve during the twentieth century? Is there a cohesive collection of historic buildings that constitutes the elements of a local or National Register historic district?

Anticipated Results It was expected that 5 to 10% of the 122 properties would be found eligible to the local landmark program, State Register, or National Register.

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Survey Results The Intensive Survey documented and evaluated 122 selected sites within the city limits.

In general, survey results followed initial expectations. Three properties were evaluated as eligible for individual National Register nomination and two evaluated for nomination to the State Register. Fourteen properties were evaluated as eligible for designation as Aurora landmarks. These are identified in the Intensive Survey Log in Appendix C and described in further detail later in this chapter.

The Blanche Wilson House I Centennial House at 1671 Galena Street is listed in the National Register and designated as an Aurora landmark. It is significant as the first house built in the Fletcher townsite and representative of the Queen Anne style. The property is owned by the City of Aurora.

Photograph by Carole Cardon, 2003.

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Survey Results

5AM.1568

1550 GALENA STREET Wilhelm House This house is a well-preserved representative of a modest version of the English Norman Cottage, as reflected in its steeply pitched gabled roof, exposed rafter tails, fireplace chimney, gabled vestibule, and round-arched entrance. It is the only example of this architectural style in the Galena Street survey area. The garage typifies the small buildings constructed in the 1920s and 1930s to shelter the homeowner's automobile as reflected in its frame construction, front-gabled roof, clapboard exterior, swing-out doors, and placement at the rear of the lot.

This property is recommended for designation as a local landmark as a wellpreserved representative of the English Norman Cottage.

5AM.342

1590 GALENA STREET This house is associated with growth and development of Aurora during the early twentieth century. It is a well-preserved representative ofthe Classic Cottage constructed in Aurora during this period, as reflected in its symmetrical massing, hipped roof, brick exterior, half-hipped porch, half-hipped dormer, and minimal ornamentation. The property's conversion into a church has had a slight impact on the exterior of the building; windows have been covered by or replaced with wood panels on the south elevation. This property is recommended for designation as a local landmark as a good representative of the Classic Cottage.

5AM.343

1601 GALENA STREET Cornell House; Hall House This house is a well-preserved representative of the Craftsman style, as reflected in its 1-1/2-story height, broad side-gabled roof, gabled dormer, brick exterior, wide overhanging eaves, projecting eave supports, triangular knee braces, and fireplace chimney. Although slightly altered, the garage typifies the small buildings constructed in the 1920s and 1930s to shelter the home-owner's automobile as reflected in its flat roof, brick construction, and placement at the rear of the lot near the alley.

This property is recommended for designation as a local landmark, as a wellpreserved representative of the Craftsman style.

5AM.344

1615 GALENA STREET Muldoon House This house is a well-preserved representative of the Craftsman style dwelling as reflected in its 1-1/2-story height, broad side-gabled roof, Chevron-patterned brick exterior, stuccoed exterior, wide overhanging eaves, elaborate carved porch braces, fireplace chimneys. The elaborate prominent front porch has a Chevron-patterned gable end and gable end windows with elaborate brick surrounds of rows of dogtooth dentils and radiating voussoirs. The house occupies a large, original lot with and is enclosed in a historic wrought iron fence. This property is recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as an excellent, elaborate intact example ofthe Craftsman style dwelling.

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Survey Results

5AM.1572

1620 GALENA STREET This house is a well-preserved representative of a modest Craftsman Bungalow, as reflected in its low-pitched front-gabled roof, clapboard exterior, gabled half-wall porch, 5-over-1 windows, and exposed rafter tails (now covered by gutters). The garage typifies the small buildings constructed in the 1920s and 1930s to shelter the home-owner's automobile as reflected in its frame construction, front-gabled roof, shiplap siding, paneled swing out doors, and placement at the rear of the lot.

This properly is recommended for designation as a local landmark, as a wellpreserved representative example of the modest version of the Bungalow Craftsman dwelling seen in Aurora.

5AM.1574

1632 GALENA STREET This house is a well-preserved representative ofthe small, functional residences constructed in Aurora during World War II, as reflected in its extremely small size side-gabled roof, gabled stoop covers, minimal eaves, and lack of ornamental detail.

This property is recommended for designation as a local landmark as representative of the small, functional housing built on Galena Street and elsewhere in Aurora during World War II.

5AM.172

1638 GALENA STREET This house is associated with growth and development of Aurora during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The house is historically significant as the residence of H.M. Milliken, a founder of the Fletcher townsite. The organizational meeting to establish the townsite was held at this house in 1891. The house is one of the best preserved dwellings dating to the Fletcher townsite period.

The use of the dwelling as a boarding house reflects the pattern of use for many larger houses, as lodging was needed for military families at nearby Fitzsimons Hospital/Medical Center and Lowry Field/Air Force Base.

The property is also representative of the eclectic dwellings constructed on Galena Street at the time that the area was platted as the townsite of Fletcher. Like others, i~s original design is Queen Anne style as reflected in the asymmetrical massing, gabled roof, brick exterior, decorative gable end shingles, and bargeboard. The elaborate porch, added in 1911 according to the present owner, reflects the movement toward classical design, as reflected by its Tuscan columns, half-hipped roof and lack of elaborate woodworking. This property is designated as a local Aurora landmark and recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. This property is designated as a local landmark.

30

Survey Results

5AM.1576

1642 GALENA STREET Dr. Esposito House This house is signification for its association with Dr. Salvatore Esposito and his wife Anne, who resided here in the 1940s and 1950s. The Espositos were influential in Aurora during the 1940s and early 1950s, through their medical practice which served both Aurora citizens and residents of the surrounding rural area. Dr. Esposito was also influential in public health and welfare in the 1940s as the Aurora Health Officer, Aurora Physician, and the Adams County Physician. During the 1950s and 1960s, Dr. Esposito practiced on the staffs of Mercy Hospital, Porter Hospital, General Rose Hospital and the old Physicians & Surgeons Hospital. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he was also active in establishing Aurora General Hospital, sitting on its first board of directors.

Although the architectural integrity is somewhat diminished, this property is recommended for consideration for designation as a local landmark based upon its association with Dr. Esposito and Anne Esposito.

5AM.1578

1667 GALENA STREET This house is a well-preserved representative of the Ranch style dwelling constructed in Aurora during this period, as reflected in its frame construction, side-gabled roof, and entry porch with concrete deck and wrought iron supports. This property is recommended for designation as a local landmark as a well-preserved example of the early frame version of the Ranch Style residence built on Galena Street and elsewhere in Aurora during World War II.

5AM.173

1671 GALENA STREET Wilson House, Centennial House From National Register of Historic Places, Registration Form The Blanche A. Wilson House is considered for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A in the area of settlement. This was the first house built for developer Donald Fletcher in the town of Fletcher (later renamed Aurora) which he founded, along with the financial participation of others, at the beginning of Denver's tum-of-the-century suburban movement. Fletcher was a prominent real estate developer with related investments in local water companies and streetcar lines. He was president of the Denver Chamber of Commerce in 1888 and later became president of the group that founded Fairmount Cemetery. The town he founded eventually grew to become Colorado's third largest city.

The Wilson House is also considered to be eligible under Criterion C. It has distinctive characteristics of the Queen Anne style, including asymmetrical massing, multi-gabled roof, decorative shingles, bargeboard, and a gabled entry porch with fan brackets and geometric balustrade. Fletcher built a number of two-story Queen-Anne style houses in Aurora. Of the eleven houses that remain, the Wilson House best retains its historic exterior architectural integrity.

This house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated as an Aurora Landmark.

31

Survey Results

5AM.175

1788 GALENA STREET This house is associated with settlement and development of Aurora during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It is one of the "Fletcher" houses, built prior to or in the decade after the Fletcher townsite was platted. The house is one of the best preserved dwellings dating to the Fletcher townsite period.

This property is a slightly altered representative of the Queen Anne style, as reflected in its asymmetrical massing, multi-gabled roof, brick exterior, bay window, decorative shingles, and bargeboard. This property is recommended for designation as a local landmark as one of the most intact Fletcher Houses and as an excellent example of the Queen Anne style.

5AM.177

2027 GALENA STREET This house is associated with growth and development of Aurora during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It is one of the "Fletcher" houses, built prior to or in the decade after the Fletcher townsite was platted. The house is one of the best preserved dwellings dating to the Fletcher townsite period.

The residence is also a well-preserved representative of the Queen Anne style dwelling constructed in Fletcher during the first decade, as reflected in its asymmetrical massing, gabled roof, brick exterior, decorative shingles, round-arched windows, gabled entry porch with fan brackets and geometric balustrade, bay window, and bargeboard. This house is designated as an Aurora Landmark.

It is recommended for listing in the National Register.

5AM.178

207 4 GALENA STREET This house is associated with settlement and development of Aurora during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It is one of the "Fletcher" houses, built prior to or in the decade after the Fletcher townsite was platted. The house is one of the better preserved dwellings dating to the Fletcher townsite period.

This property is a somewhat altered representative of the Queen Anne style, as reflected in its gabled roof, brick exterior, bay window, and bargeboard.

This property is recommended for designation as a local landmark for its association with the Fletcher townsite. It is one of the more intact Fletcher Houses and is a somewhat altered representative of the Queen Anne style.

5AM.180

2226 GALENA STREET Woods House This house is associated with settlement and development of Aurora during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It is one of the "Fletcher" houses, built prior to or in the decade after the Fletcher townsite was platted. The house is one of the more intact dwellings dating to the Fletcher townsite period.

This property is a somewhat altered representative of the Queen Anne style, as reflected in its gabled roof, masonry exterior, spindlework porch frieze, decorative shingles, and barge board. This is one of the few "Fletcher" houses on Galena Street that appears to retain the original porch; most others have hipped-roof porches constructed ca 1910.

32

Survey Results

Recommendations Survey and Planning •

Encourage and/or assist property owners in designating eligible local landmarks and/or to National Register.

•

Continue intensive survey work on East Colfax Avenue, Dayton Street, or elsewhere in Aurora.

Education and Interpretation •

Publish survey information and/or pictures on city website.

•

Organize and conduct guided walking tours.

•

Incorporate research and photographs from the survey into a published walking tour brochure of Galena Street.

•

Use research from survey to prepare interpretive plaques for selected Galena Street properties.

Physical Preservation

•

•

Encourage owners to preserve properties identified as threatened or deteriorating.

•

Prepare lists of "restorable" properties. Encourage restoration of these properties .

•

Sponsor a high visibility restoration project, such as porch rehabilitation or siding removal.

33

Bibliography Books 1939 Aurora Telephone Directory. Denver: Mountain Bell, 1939.

1930 Annual Directory of the City ofAurora. Publisher unknown. 1930.

1941 XL Directory ofAurora (Section B, Denver Suburban). Denver, CO: XL Directory Service, 1941.

1948 Complete Directory ofAurora. Lakewood, CO: Powell Advertising Sales Agency, 1948.

1952 Aurora Directory. Denver, CO: XL Directory Service, 1952.

1962 Denver Combined Suburban Directory, Volume. III, Aurora and Brighton.

Loveland, CO: X-L Directories: 1962.

1972- 73 Denver Suburban Directory. Denver, CO: R. L. Polk: 1973.

Hicks, Dave. Aurora from the Beginning. Denver: A-T-P Printing, 1977.

Leonard, Stephen J. and Thomas J. Noel. Denver- Mining Camp to Metropolis.

Niwot, Colorado: University Press of Colorado. 1990.

McFadden, Carl Vincent and Leona M. McFadden. Early Aurora. Aurora: Aurora Technical Center, 1978.

McAllester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred Knopf, Inc., 1984.

Mehls, Steve F., Carol J. Drake, and James E. Fell. Aurora, Gateway to the Rockies. Aurora: City of Aurora, 1985.

Metcalf, Gladys. Aurora's First Forty-Five Years- A Brief Chronological History. Aurora: Aurora Historical Society, 1981.

Robertson, Don, Morris Cafky, and E. J. Haley. Denver's Streetcar Railways.

Volume I -1871-1900. Not an Automobile in Sight. Denver: Sundance Publications, Ltd., 1999.

LeMassena, Robert A. Colorado's Mountain Railroads. Denver: Sundance Books, 1982 Smiley, Jerome. History of Denver. 1901, reprinted., Denver: Old Americana Publishing Company, 1978.

Reports, Other Callouet, Dawn. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Blanche A. Wilson House. Denver: Colorado Historical Society, 1996.

Hunt, Rebecca A. Aurora Colorado Historical Context Study. City of Aurora, Aurora History Museum, 1995.

34

Bibliography

Pearce, Sarah J. 1985 Aurora Historic Preservation Survey/Inventory. Aurora, City of Aurora, 1985.

Sandstead, Vicky. 1978 Aurora Historic Preservation Inventory. Aurora, City of Aurora, 1978.

Simmons, R. Laurie. Fitzsimons Army Medical Center Final Submittal. Arvada, Front Range Resource Associates, 1991.

Tate, Marcia and Bill. City ofAurora Centennial House Historic Property Cultural Resource Inventory, Adams County. City of Aurora, 1990.

Maps

•

Fitzsimons Quadrant. Washington, D. C.: United States Geological Survey, 1965, revised 1994.

Montbello Quadrant. Washington, D. C.: United States Geological Survey, 1965, revised 1994.

Rand McNally Denver Regional Are Map. Denver: MAPSCO, 2000.

Denver 2004 Regional Street Atlas. Denver: MAPS CO, 2003.

Willits, W. C. Willits Farm Map [portions ofJefferson, Arapahoe (including Denver) Adams, Boulder, Douglas, and Weld Counties, Colorado]. Denver: W. Willits, 1899. Scale 1:40,0000.

35

Glossary Arch A typically curved structure, which spans an opening and is capable of supporting not only its weight, but also the weight above it.

Asbestos shingles Large, square, textured shingles or tiles made of asbestos, applied to residences as an exterior material during the mid-1900s. Sometimes have a wavy pattern on the lower edge.

Baluster, balustrade A post or pillar that supports a handrail. A series of balusters joined by a handrail is called a balustrade.

Bargeboard A board placed along the edge of a gable; often decorated.

Bead board Interior finish consisting of boards, usually placed vertically, with bead molding in the joints. Seen as wainscotting and on porch ceilings.

Bay window Projecting, often three-sided, window.

Belt course Horizontal band of masonry; usually projects beyond face of building. Also called string course; called a "sill course" if set at windowsill level.

Board and batten Vertical parallel boards with seams covered by vertical wood strips.

Bracket A projecting support for a cornice, roof eave, or porch posts. Often decorative as well as functional.

Capital The top portion of a column or pilaster. The middle portion is called the shaft and the bottom portion the base.

Classic column A column with pronounced capital (top) and a base (bottom).

Clapboard Long, thin overlapping wood placed horizontally on the exterior of frame buildings.

Classic Cottage Architectural style popular from 1900 through 1915, consisting of one-story, hipped-roof dwelling with a prominent front porch with classic columns.

Characteristics include symmetrical massing and lack of ornament. Dormer in front roof hip is typical.

Corbel, corbelling Stepped arrangements of stones or bricks, with each course projecting beyond the one below. Often used at cornice for structural reinforcement.

36

•

Glossary Corner boards Vertical boards placed on exterior corner to cover ends of horizontal clapboards; sometimes chamfered. Also - Pilaster cornerboards: cornerboards with a small capital.

Cornice A decorative projecting molding at the top of the wall; frequently used on commercial building fa~ades.

Course Row of laid bricks or stone. See also, belt course, string course.

•• •• •

Craftsman Architectural style predominant from around 1910 through the mid 1930s consisting of a side-gabled or front-gabled roof dwelling with low pitched roof. Exterior materials include red, brown, and beige brick, salt-glazed brick.

Craftsman features include clipped gables, 3-over-1 or 5-over-1 windows, exposed rafter tails, and a ubiquitous front porch. Porch details include a clipped gable, exposed rafter tails, half wall, battered porch piers, and open gable end with a decorative truss. The one-story version of this style is called a "Craftsman Bungalow."

Dentils Teethlike ornamentation consisting of a horizontal row of evenly spaced projecting blocks.

Dogtooth course A string course of diagonally laid brick with projecting brick corners.

Dormer A projecting structure piercing a roof slope; gabled or shed-roofed; often contains a window.

Double-hung window A window with two vertical sashes, each closing a different part of the opening.

Eave Lower edge of a roof that projects beyond the wall below.

Fa~ade

The main wall of a building.

Finial An ornament at the top of a gable or turret.

Fishscale shingling Round-ended shingles, often used in gable ends.

Frieze A decorative band below a cornice. Also porch frieze - spindlework treatment below eave of porch. Friezeboard- molded band placed at top of wall to cover seam with gable edge.

Front gabled Gabled roof building with the main entrance in the gable-end side.

37

• • • • •

Glossary Gable The triangular upper portion of an end wall, which carries the roof.

Gable end End of roof under gable, sometimes finished in fishscale shingling or log slabs.

Gabled L L-shaped floor plan with a gable at each outside end .

Hardboard Modem siding that is made from compressed wood products. This exterior material is available in many different forms, including bevel siding, horizontal lap siding, or large panels.

Hipped-roof box One-story dwelling with pyramid-shaped roof. Sometimes peak of pyramid is flattened or "truncated."

Hipped roof A roof with four slopes meeting at the top, sometimes pyramid shaped.

Hood molding A projecting molding over a window or door.

Keystone Stone inserted in top of an arched opening.

Lap siding, lapped siding Siding composed of overlapping, horizontal strips, which may be wood, vinyl, aluminum, or other material.

Lintel A horizontal structural member spanning a door or window that supports the wall above.

Lite, light Term for window pane, used to describe number and placement of panes in a window, such as 2/2 or 6/1 lites.

Masonry That craft of shaping, arranging and uniting bricks, blocks of stone, and/or concrete blocks.

Minimal Traditional Architectural style popular from the mid 1930s through late 1940s, consisting of a side-gabled or hipped-roof dwelling with a front-facing gable or gabled projection. Exterior materials are clapboards or other horizontal siding.

Ornamentation consists of little more than decorative window shutters and/or gable end facing of vertical boards. Other features include metal frame casement windows. Entry treatments include an entry porch, stoop cover, or a vestibule.

Mission Revival The Mission style is distinguished by a curvilinear parapet, smooth exterior walls and semicircular arched openings. Roofs have overhanging eaves with exposed rafters and a sometimes a round window is found in the gable end.

38

•• •

Glossary Nonhistoric alteration Alteration made to a historic building made. Typical alterations consist of constructing additions, applying vinyl, metal, or asbestos siding, replacing historic windows with vinyl, enclosing porches, and replacing historic porch supports with wrought iron.

Parapet Low wall used at edge of roof, often used at the front of one-story commercial buildings.

Pediment A gabled projection often centered in the house fas;ade. It emulates the pediment on a classical Greek temple. In the 1870s and early 1880s, triangular shaped trim was used for window tops in the Greek Revival style.

Pilaster An engaged pier or column, often with a capital and a base.

"Pop top" Second story addition made to historic dwelling.

Pointed arch window Window with a point at its apex.

Preservation The act or process of applying measures necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity, and materials of an historic property. Focuses on the maintenance and repair of existing historic materials and retention of a property's form as it has evolved over time.

Queen Anne Architectural style popular in the 1880s and 1890s. distinguished by asymmetrical massing, textured surfaces and multiple gables. Features include a front porch, gable-end shingles, bay windows, decorative woodworking and sometimes a turret or tower.

Quoins Stone block used to reinforce the corner of a wall, laid in alternating widths.

Pronounced "coin."

Ranch Architectural style popular from the late 1940s through 1960s. Design elements include one-story height, a low pitched roof, a small front porch with wrought iron supports or a stoop cover, picture window(s), and attached garage. In Edgewater, exterior materials are brick and horizontal siding, as well as a few in salt-glazed brick. Several houses have porch covers and awnings of corrugated fiber glass, or window awnings of metal slats. Some hipped-roof Ranch style dwellings have various hipped projections and sections, such as an attached garage or front-facing projection. Nearly all have garages: inset, attached, or free-standing.

Reconstruction The act or process of accurately depicting the form, features, and character of a property as it appeared at a particular period of time by means of the removal of features from other periods in its history and reconstruction of missing features from the restoration period. Re-creates vanished or non-surviving portions of a property for interpretive purposes.

39

•-

Glossary Rehabilitation The act or process of making possible a compatible use for a property through repair, alterations, and additions while preserving those portions or features which convey its historical, cultural, or architectural values.

Restoration The act or process of depicting, by means of new construction, the form, features, and detailing of a non-surviving site, landscape, building, structure, or object for the purpose of replicating its appearance at a specific period of time and in its historic location. Depicts a property at a particular period of time in its history, while removing evidence of other periods.

Shingle Thin pieces of wood, slat, metal, or asbestos laid in overlapping rows to cover the roofs and walls of buildings. Notable when wood shingling appears in the gable end of a house or on the exterior walls. Shapes of shingles include square and fishscale (rounded).

Side gabled Gabled-roof building with the main entrance in a wall that is perpendicular to the gable ends.

Shingle A thin piece of wood, metal or asbestos laid in overlapping rows to cover the roofs and walls ofbuildings.

Shiplap siding Narrow, horizontal wood siding with interlocking groove. Also called drop siding.

Spindlework Decorative woodworking composed of short, turned or circular ornaments that resemble spindles.

Sunburst A decorative motif depicting the rays of the sun, associated with Queen Anne style.

String course A horizontal band of masonry that wraps continuously around the fayade of a building. It may separate the first and second story, or serve to connect window sills or window lintels. Also called a belt course.

• •

••

Stucco A mixture of portland cement, lime, sand, and water that is used as an exterior finish .

Transom Small, glazed opening above a door or window; to provide light and, sometimes, air.

Triangular knee brace An L-shaped supporting piece with angled support projecting from a wall to support a roof eave, stoop cover, or other element. This feature is a common feature of Arts .and Crafts design.

Truncated hip Hipped roof that terminates in a flat plane, rather than a point.

40

.•

•• ••

Glossary Truss A composite structural element use to span distances that exceed those spanned by single members. Most often trusses are in the form of triangles and used to support roofs. Both functional and decorative trusses are seen in the porch gables of Craftsman style houses in Edgewater.

Tudor Revival Architectural style popular from 1920 through the early 1930s. Prominent features include a steeply pitched roof, vertical orientation, prominent fireplace chimney, vestibule-entry, and round-arched entrance. Casement windows are also typical.

Turret A small tower usually located on the comer of a building.

Vernacular A building design developed not by architects but by local custom, and based on the use of local materials, techniques, forms, and ornamentation.

Vestibule A small entrance room.

Wainscot Wood paneling or other material applied to lower half of wall.

Window surround Architectural feature above a window.

Woodframe Constructed of a wood support system .

•• •• •• "•

41

•• •• • • •

Appendices Appendix A - CHS Previously Recorded Properties Appendix B - Designated Aurora Landmarks Appendix C - Intensive Survey Log by Address Appendix D -Intensive Survey Log by Site ld

•• • •

Appendix A CHS Previously Recorded Sites State ID

Address

Evaluation

5AM.170

1540 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.341

1560 GALENA ST

Officially not eligible>Field not eligible>Officially not eligible>Field not eligible

5AM .171

1570 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.342

1590 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM.343

1601 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM.344

1615 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM.345

1629 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM.346

1633 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM .172

1638 GALENA ST

106 - Officially eligible

5AM.1128

1641 GALENA ST

Officially not eligible

5AM.1485

1643 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.348

1646 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM .347

1647 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM.173

1671 GALENA ST

Listed on National Register>Local Landmark>106Officially eligible>Field eligible

5AM.1325

1722 GALENA ST

Officially not eligible>Field not eligible

5AM.981

1726 GALENA ST

Officially not eligible>Officially not eligible

5AM.1484

1760 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.174

1780 GALENA ST

106 - Officially eligible

5AM.349

1782 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM.1510

1786 GALENA ST

Field not eligible>Officially not eligible

5AM.175

1788 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.350

1901 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM.581

1948 GALENA ST

Officially not eligible

5AM.176

1960 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.351

1964 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM.177

2027 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.352

2061 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM.353

2062 GALENA ST

Field not eligible

5AM.178

2074 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.354

2076 GALENA ST

Officially not eligible>Field not eligible

5AM.179

2083 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.180

2226 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.1483

2230 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

A -1

••

•• •• •

•• •

State ID

Address

Evaluation

5AM.1482

2240 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.181

2280 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.1480

2287 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

5AM.1120

2301 GALENA ST

Officially not eligible

5AM.1481

2340 GALENA ST

No evaluation available

A-2

-•• • ••

Appendix B Designated Aurora Landmarks #1 Melvin School (National Register) 4950 S. Laredo St. Built: 1922 Landmarked: 1986 #2 William Smith House (National Register) 412 Oswego Ct. Built: 1910 Landmarked: 1986 #3 John Gully Homestead House (National Register) Delaney Farm Historic District 170 S. Chambers Rd .

Built: 1870-1871 Landmarked: 1986

#4 Historic William Smith School 10000 E. 131h Ave. Built: 1931 Landmarked: 1986

#5 Aurora Fox Arts Center 9900 E. Colfax Ave. Built: 1946 Landmarked: 1987 #6 H.M. Milliken House 1638 Galena St. Built: 1891 Landmarked: 1987 #7 American War Mothers National Memorial Home 1601 Peoria St. Built: 1924-1926 Landmarked: 1988 #8 Italian Villa 1785 Hanover St. Built: 1925 Landmarked: 1988

#9 Delaney Round Barn (National Register) Delaney Farm Historic District 170 S. Chambers Rd. Built: 1902 Landmarked: 1989

•• ••

#10 Thomas F. Gilligan House 1455 Beeler St. Built: 1925 Landmarked: 1990

B -1

-

•• •• ••

Appendix B • Designated Aurora Landmarks #11 Centennial House (National Register) 1671 Galena St. Built: 1890 Landmarked: 1993 #12 Lowry Building 880 71 0 Boston St. Built: 1942 Landmarked: 1995 #13 Guardhouses Fitzsimons General's Park Built: 1919 Landmarked: 1999 #14 General's Pond· Water Fowl Preserve Fitzsimons General's Park Built: 1901 Landmarked: 1999 #15 Red Cross Building and Memorial525 12862 E. Montview Blvd .

Built: 1918 Landmarked: 1999 #16 KOA Building 18500E. Colfax Ave. Built: 1934 Landmarked: 2001 #17 2027 Galena St. Built: 1892 Landmarked: 2001 #18 Coal Creek 800 Telluride St. Built: 1928 Landmarked: 2001

Delaney Farm Historic District #1 Landmarked: 1997 Toll Gate Creek Archaeological Site #1 Landmarked: 2003

B -2

-•• •• •

.,e ~ ~

e

e e e e

•• • •

Appendix C 2003 - 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street, Auroray Inventory Log National Register Eligible

Property Address

Temp ID

State ID

1

5AM.1566

1504 GALENA

2

5AM.1567

1532 GALENA

3

5AM.170

1540 GALENA

4

5AM.1568

1550 GALENA

5

5AM.341

1560 GALENA

6

5AM.171

1570 GALENA

7

5AM.1569

1574 GALENA

8

5AM.1570

1575 GALENA

9

5AM.342

1590 GALENA

10

5AM.1571

1600 GALENA

11

5AM.343

1601 GALENA

12

5AM.344

1615 GALENA

13

5AM.1572

1620 GALENA

14

5AM.1573

1626/1628 GALENA

15

5AM.345

1629 GALENA

16

5AM.1574

1632/1636 GALENA

17

5AM.346

1633 GALENA

18

5AM.1575

1637/1639 GALENA

19

5AM.172

1638 GALENA

20

5AM.1128

1641 GALENA

21

5AM.1576

1642 GALENA

22

5AM.1485

1643 GALENA

23

5AM.348

1646 GALENA

24

5AM.347

1647 GALENA

25

5AM.1577

1652 GALENA

26

5AM.1578

1667 GALENA

27

5AM.173

1671 GALENA

28

5AM.1579

1680 GALENA

29

5AM.1580

1700 GALENA

30

5AM.1581

1701 GALENA

31

5AM.1582

1711 GALENA

32

5AM.1583

1716 GALENA

State Register Eligible

Local Landmark

X

X

_x__

_x__

X X X

X

_x__

X X

X

_x__

c -1

X

••

•• •• •• •• • •

Appendix C 2003 • 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street, Auroray Inventory Log

Temp ID

State ID

Property Address

33

5AM.1325

1722 GALENA

34

5AM.1584

1723 GALENA

35

5AM.981

1726 GALENA

36

5AM.1585

1727 GALENA

37

5AM.1586

1735 GALENA

38

5AM.1587

1740 GALENA

39

5AM.1588

1743 GALENA

40

5AM.1589

1746 GALENA

41

5AM.1590

1754 GALENA

42

5AM.1591

1757 GALENA

43

5AM.1484

1760 GALENA

44

5AM.1592

1767 GALENA

45

5AM.1593

1775 GALENA

46

5AM.174

1780 GALENA

47

5AM.1594

1781 GALENA

48

5AM.349

1782 GALENA

49

5AM.1510

1786 GALENA

50

5AM.175

1788 GALENA

51

5AM.1595

1789 GALENA

52

5AM.1596

1900 GALENA

53

5AM.350

1901 GALENA

54

5AM.1597

1912 GALENA

55

5AM.1598

1915 GALENA

56

5AM.1599

1923 GALENA

57

5AM.1600

1926 GALENA

8

58

5AM.1601

1928 GALENA

~

59

5AM.1602

1937 GALENA

60

5AM.1603

1944 GALENA

61

5AM.581

1948 GALENA

62

5AM.1604

1957 GALENA

63

5AM.1605

1959 GALENA

64

5AM.176

1960 GALENA

8 8 8 8

"• ~

.

• -.'

It

National Register Eligible

C-2

State Register Eligible

Local Landmark

_x_

X

••

•• • ••

,

•

•,•-

Appendix C 2003 - 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street, Auroray Inventory Log

Temp ID

State ID

Property Address

65

5AM.1606

1963 GALENA

66

5AM.351

1964 GALENA

67

5AM.1607

1965 GALENA

68

5AM.1608

1980 GALENA

69

5AM.1609

2024 GALENA

70

5AM.1610

2026 GALENA

71

5AM.177

2027 GALENA

72

5AM.1611

2035 GALENA

73

5AM .1612

2040 GALENA

74

5AM.1613

2045 GALENA

75

5AM.1614

2053 GALENA

76

5AM.352

2061 GALENA

77

5AM.353

2062 GALENA

78

5AM.1615

2065 GALENA

79

5AM.1616

2068 GALENA

80

5AM.1617

2073 GALENA

81

5AM.178

2074 GALENA

82

5AM .354

2076 GALENA

83

5AM.179

2083 GALENA

84

5AM.1618

2200 GALENA

85

5AM.1619

2211 GALENA

86

5AM.1620

2217 GALENA

87

5AM .1621

2222 GALENA

88

5AM.1622

2225 GALENA

89

5AM.180

2226 GALENA

90

5AM.1623

2227 GALENA

91

5AM .1483

2230 GALENA

92

5AM .1624

2233 GALENA

93

5AM.1625

2236 GALENA

94

5AM .1482

2240 GALENA

95

5AM.1626

2251 GALENA

96

5AM.1627

2264 GALENA

National Register Eligible

_x_

State Register Eligible

Local Landmark

X

X

X

C-3

•• ••

••

••

Appendix C 2003 - 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street, Auroray Inventory Log National Register Eligible

Temp ID

State ID

97

5AM.1628

2259 - 2269 GALENA

98

5AM.1629

2272 GALENA

99

- 5AM.1630

2274 GALENA

100

5AM.1649

2275 GALENA

101

5AM.181

2280 GALENA

102

5AM.1480

2287 GALENA

103

5AM.1631

2300 GALENA

104

5AM.1120

2301 GALENA

105

5AM.1632

2308 GALENA

106

5AM.1633

2309 GALENA

107

5AM.1634

2317 GALENA

108

5AM.1635

2325 GALENA

109

5AM.1636

2332 GALENA

110

5AM.1637

2335 GALENA

111

5AM.1481

2340 GALENA

112

5AM.1638

2345 GALENA

113

5AM.1639

2346 GALENA

114

5AM.1640

2350 GALENA

115

5AM.1641

2357 GALENA

116

5AM.1642

2365 GALENA

117

5AM.1643

2367 GALENA

118

5AM.1644

2372 GALENA

119

5AM.1645

2375 GALENA

120

5AM.1646

2380 GALENA

121

5AM.1647

2385 GALENA

122

5AM.1648

2396 GALENA

Property Address

C-4

State Register Eligible

Local Landmark

It

••

Appendix 0 2003 - 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street, Auroray Inventory Log - Site 10 Order

State ID

Temp ID

Property Address

National Register Eligible

Local Landmark

5AM.170

3

1540 GALENA

5AM.171

6

1570 GALENA

5AM.172

19

1638 GALENA

_lL

X

5AM.173

27

1671 GALENA

_lL

X

5AM.174

46

1780 GALENA

5AM.175

50

1788 GALENA

5AM.176

64

1960· GALENA

5AM.177

71

2027 GALENA

5AM.178

81

2074 GALENA

5AM.179

83

2083 GALENA

5AM.180

89

2226 GALENA

5AM.181

101

2280 GALENA

5AM.341

5

1560 GALENA

5AM.342

9

1590 GALENA

5AM.343

11

1601 GALENA

5AM.344

12

1615 GALENA

5AM.345

15

1629 GALENA

5AM.346

17

1633 GALENA

5AM.347

24

1647 GALENA

5AM.348

23

1646 GALENA

5AM.349

48

1782 GALENA

5AM.350

53

1901 GALENA

5AM.351

66

1964 GALENA

5AM.352

76

2061 GALENA

5AM.353

77

2062 GALENA

5AM.354

82

2076 GALENA

5AM.581

61

1948 GALENA

5AM.981

35

1726 GALENA

5AM.1120

104

2301 GALENA

5AM.1128

20

1641 GALENA

5AM.1325

33

1722 GALENA

5AM.1480

102

2287 GALENA

____x_ _lL

X X X X

____x_ _lL

0-1

•

State Register Eligible

X X X

~

•• • ••

•• •

Appendix D 2003 • 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street, Auroray Inventory Log· Site ID Order

State ID

Temp ID

Property Address

5AM.1481

111

2340 GALENA

5AM.1482

94

2240 GALENA

5AM.1483

91

2230 GALENA

5AM.1484

43

1760 GALENA

5AM.1485

22

1643 GALENA

5AM.1510

49

1786 GALENA

5AM .1566

1

1504 GALENA

5AM.1567

2

1532 GALENA

5AM.1568

4

1550 GALENA

5AM.1569

7

1574 GALENA

5AM.1570

8

1575 GALENA

5AM.1571

10

1600 GALENA

5AM.1572

13

1620 GALENA

5AM.1573

14

1626/1628 GALENA

5AM.1574

16

1632/1636 GALENA

5AM.1575

18

1637/1639 GALENA

5AM.1576

21

1642 GALENA

5AM.1577

25

1652 GALENA

5AM.1578

26

1667 GALENA

5AM.1579

28

1680 GALENA

5AM.1580

29

1700 GALENA

5AM.1581

30

1701 GALENA

5AM.1582

31

1711 GALENA

5AM.1583

32

1716 GALENA

5AM.1584

34

1723 GALENA

5AM.1585

36

1727 GALENA

5AM.1586

37

1735 GALENA

5AM.1587

38

1740 GALENA

5AM.1588

39

1743 GALENA

5AM.1589

40

1746 GALENA

5AM.1590

41

1754 GALENA

5AM.1591

42

1757 GALENA

National Register Eligible

State Register Eligible

Local Landmark

X

X X X X

D-2

Appendix D 2003 • 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street, Auroray Inventory Log· Site ID Order

State ID

e

e e e e e e e e

e e 8 e e e e e e e 8 8 f.)

Temp ID

Property Address

5AM.1592

44

1767 GALENA

5AM.1593

45

1775 GALENA

5AM.1594

47

1781 GALENA

5AM.1595

51

1789 GALENA

5AM.1596

52

1900 GALENA

5AM.1597

54

1912 GALENA

5AM.1598

55

1915 GALENA

5AM.1599

56

1923 GALENA

5AM.1600

57

1926 GALENA

5AM.1601

58

1928 GALENA

5AM.1602

59

1937 GALENA

5AM.1603

60

1944 GALENA

5AM.1604

62

1957 GALENA

5AM.1605

63

1959 GALENA

5AM.1606

65

1963 GALENA

5AM.1607

67

1965 GALENA

5AM.1608

68

1980 GALENA

5AM.1609

69

2024 GALENA

5AM.1610

70

2026 GALENA

5AM.1611

72

2035 GALENA

5AM.1612

73

2040 GALENA

5AM.1613

74

2045 GALENA

5AM.1614

75

2053 GALENA

5AM.1615

78

2065 GALENA

5AM.1616

79

2068 GALENA

5AM.1617

80

2073 GALENA

5AM.1618

84

2200 GALENA

5AM.1619

85

2211 GALENA

5AM.1620

86

2217 GALENA

5AM.1621

87

2222 GALENA

5AM.1622

88

2225 GALENA

5AM.1623

90

2227 GALENA

National Register Eligible

D-3

State Register Eligible

Local Landmark

Appendix D 2003 - 2004 Historic Building Survey of Galena Street, Auroray Inventory Log - Site ID Order National Register Eligible

State ID

Temp ID

Property Address

5AM.1624

92

2233 GALENA

5AM.1625

93

2236 GALENA

5AM.1626

95

2251 GALENA

5AM.1627

96

2264 GALENA

5AM.1628

97

2259 - 2269 GALENA

5AM.1629

98

2272 GALENA

5AM.1630

99

2274 GALENA

5AM.1631

103

2300 GALENA

5AM.1632

105

2308 GALENA

5AM.1633

106

2309 GALENA

5AM.1634

107

2317 GALENA

5AM.1635

108

2325 GALENA

5AM.1636

109

2332 GALENA

5AM.1637

110

2335 GALENA

5AM.1638

112

2345 GALENA

5AM.1639

113

2346 GALENA

5AM.1640

114

2350 GALENA

5AM.1641

115

2357 GALENA

5AM.1642

116

2365 GALENA

5AM.1643

117

2367 GALENA

5AM.1644

118

2372 GALENA

5AM.1645

119

2375 GALENA

5AM.1646

120

2380 GALENA

5AM.1647

121

2385 GALENA

5AM.1648

122

2396 GALENA

5AM.1649

100

2275 GALENA

D-4

State Register Eligible

Local Landmark