Historic Preservation Commission Agenda and Packet 2016 02 08

Home Browse Search

Another photo and a close -up of it, also accompanying this report, show the Casino in the distance. This photo was taken from the vicinity of what is now the Harney- Lastoka Open Space south of South Boulder Rd. The view is looking northeast The Rex #1 Mine is m the foreground on the right. The Hecla Mine compound was the site of sustained violence between strikers and strikebreakers in the days following the Ludlow Massacre in April 1914 in southern Colorado, where a strike had also been in effect. The Ludlow Massacre refers to the deaths of 20 people, some of them women and children, by the Colorado state militia. The news inflamed striking coal miners along the Front Range By April 1914, their strike had been going on for four years. The UMWA immediately issued a call to arms for Colorado striking miners. The governor then ordered law officers to confiscate machine guns and searchlights from coal mines. However, gunfire broke out near Louisville before this could be done. The Hecla Mine and the town of Louisville itself were subject to about fourteen hours of nearly continuous gunfire between the strikebreakers who were at the Hecla and the strikers. Several men were injured and one died of his injuries. The state militia was brought in to establish peace, then federal troops were called m. The federal troops set up camp just east of Louisville. When the violent conflict had ended, bullet holes covered some of the buildings in the Hecla Mine compound. In December 1914, the strike ended, but there were few improvements in working conditions or pay for the miners. Period After the Hecla Mine Closed, 1920 -1952 The Hecla Mine closed in 1920. Jacob Williams who had been the Superintendent of the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company which owned the Hecla at the time, purchased the property on which the mine had been located. According to an August 14, 1991 article in the Daily Camera, Williams purchased it as farm land. Due to the lack of specificity in the Boulder County property records with respect to the legal .descriptions of land located outside of platted towns, the exact boundaries of Williams' property could not be determined However, it is strongly believed to have consisted of a quarter section of % mile by % mile, or 160 acres minus a part owned by the DiGiacomo family. Jacob Williams was not only a mine superintendent for numerous mines in Boulder and Weld Counties, but he also bought and sold properties in Louisville and the surrounding area After he passed away m 1929, his wife, Jane, continued with the management of his properties, including this one. During this time, the Hecla Casino building was established as the main residence for the farm. There is some indication that Jane Williams rented the property to tenants who fanned it and who resided in the home.