Laserfiche WebLink
In 1910, it was reported in the Denver Post that the store of "William Austin, mayor of Louisville, was <br />robbed of jewelry and merchandise valued at about $500." The robbers did not attempt to open the <br />safe in the store, however. Following William Austin's death in 1935, Jessie Austin is believed to have <br />continued to operate the store until 1937, then it was rented out, and it was eventually sold by the <br />Austin children in the 1950s. <br />Jessie Niehoff is believed to have been active in community organizations and, with her family, belonged <br />to the Methodist Church at the southwest corner of Spruce and Jefferson (741 Jefferson). The Daily <br />Camera newspaper reported in 1895 that she traveled to Montrose, Colorado with a male resident "to <br />represent the Louisville lodge at the meeting of the grand lodge of Odd Fellows and Rebecca's" there. <br />William Austin died in 1935. Jessie continued to live in the house at 717 Main with her daughter, Mae; <br />her son, Roy; and Mae's daughter, Lois. In 1951, she was reported as being in favor of approving a bond <br />issue to fund Louisville's first sewage system (Louisville residents still used outhouses at the time). <br />According to the April 5, 1951 Louisville Times, she stated that "It may pinch some of us, but we have <br />been pinched before and got through it." <br />The 1956 newspaper article about Jessie Niehoff Austin observed: "During her lifetime, Mrs. Austin has <br />seen Superior and Lafayette started and built, as well as the development of Louisville from its beginning <br />as a coal camp into a commuter's town as it is today. She saw the coal mines start and [the mining] <br />industry close down here. She has seen at least four generations of changes in the business section of <br />Louisville. She is Louisville's real pioneer." <br />Jessie Austin fell in her home in late 1958, went into the hospital, and died in February 1959 at the age <br />of 89. Her only surviving sibling, Bert Niehoff, came back to Louisville for the funeral of his big sister. <br />Kate Niehoff Biography <br />Kate Niehoff was born in 1872 in Missouri and was about five years when the Niehoff family moved to <br />Louisville. It is believed that she lived at 717 Main until her marriage. In 1896, at the age of about 24, she <br />married Charles Hake of Superior. He was the son of the founder of Superior, William Hake. Charles <br />The marriage didn't last. It is believed that they divorced in about 1913. They both remarried to other <br />people. <br />11 <br />