741 Jefferson Ave Historic Survey

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Resource Number: 5BL 924 Temporary Resource Number: 157508427001 Explain: The property is eligible for the State Register under Criterion C for architecture as a good example of a Gothic Revival style church, with a period of significance of 1892 to the mid-1940sto include the historic additions. The State Register would exclude the footprint of the 2000 addition. The building has integrity of location. Integrity of setting is compromised, but not entirely lost, due to the large west addition and the 1966 demolition of the adjacent schoolhouse (now Memorial Park). Integrity of design is compromised, but not lost, by the west addition. The addition does not affect the primary facade, and it is designed to be architecturally compatible with the historic structure. The building has integrity of materials, workmanship, feeling and association. 13B. Louisville Local Landmark: Eligible X Not Eligible 13C. Historic District Potential: The church would be a contributing structure to a State Register and local historic district, and contributing to a potential National Register historic district. Discuss: This building is being recorded as part of a 2010-2011 intensive -level historical and architectural survey of Jefferson Place, Louisville's first residential subdivision, platted in 1880. The purpose of the survey is to determine if there is potential for National Register, State Register or local historic districts. Jefferson Place is eligible as a State Register historic district under Criterion A, Ethnic Heritage, European, for its association with European immigrants who first lived here and whose descendants continued to live here for over fifty years. The period of significance for the State Register historic district is 1881 — 1980. Jefferson Place is potentially eligible as a National Register historic district under Criterion A, Ethnic Heritage, European. However it needs data to determine dates of some modifications, and to more definitely establish the significant impacts of various European ethnic groups on the local culture of Louisville. The period of significance of a National Register district is 1881 — 1963. Jefferson Place is eligible as a local Louisville historic district under local Criterion B, Social, as it exemplifies the cultural and social heritage of the community. European immigrant families flocked to Colorado coal mining communities, including Louisville, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in search of economic opportunities they could not find in their own countries. Louisville's Welch Coal Mine, along with other mines in the area, recruited skilled workers from western Europe. In the early years before 1900, most of the miners who lived in Jefferson Place came from English-speaking countries. Immigrants from England brought a strong tradition and expertise in coal mining. The English are widely credited with developing the techniques of coal mining that were used locally, and they taught these techniques to other miners. The British mining culture was instilled in the early Colorado coal mines. English immigrants also brought expertise in other necessary skills such as blacksmithing and chain forging. Later Jefferson Place residents arrived from Italy, France, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia, among other places. The Italians eventually became the largest single ethnic group in Jefferson Place and in Louisville as a whole. About one-third of the houses in Jefferson Place were owned and occupied by Italian immigrants. Italian immigrants left their mark on Louisville in the food and beverage industries. To the present day, downtown Louisville is known throughout the Front Range for its tradition of Italian restaurants. The impacts of the heritage and customs of the other European ethnic groups could be significant, but are not well documented and need further investigation. 14. Management Recommendations: The property is worthy of individual nomination to the State Register as well as nomination as a Louisville Local Landmark. 15. Photograph Types and Numbers: 5BL924_741Jefferson_01 through 5BL924_741Jefferson_11. 16. Artifact and Field Documentation Storage Location: Electronic files of forms with embedded photos and maps at Colorado Historical Society. Electronic files of forms, and electronic files of photographs at City of Louisville, Colorado, Planning Department. 8