925 Jefferson Ave Historic Survey

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Resource Number: 5BL 923 Temporary Resource Number: 157508406003 unknown date with asphalt shingles. Turned wood posts at the front porch stair railing are more recently added. No other exterior modifications were noted. 30. Original location X Moved Date of move(s): V. HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS 31. Original use(s): Domestic, Single Dwelling 32. Intermediate use(s): N/A 33. Current use(s): Domestic, Single Dwelling 34. Site type(s): Urban residence 35. Historical background: This building is part of Jefferson Place, the first residential subdivision in Louisville. Virginia Hamilton and her family owned this property for over 65 years, and this was their residence. Virginia Hamilton was a school teacher in Louisville for many years, and this home was conveniently located near her place of work, which was the school for first and second grade students at 801 Grant (5BL7974). Virginia Hamilton was also one of the four charter members of Louisville's Saturday Study Club, a women's organization credited with bringing culture to the coal mining town of Louisville. The Hamilton family was also associated with 833 Jefferson (5BL8433) in Jefferson Place. 925 Jefferson has a connected history with 913 Jefferson (5BL8434) and 933 Jefferson. Marybeth Chambers originally purchased the lots for this property in 1885 from Jefferson Place developer Charles Welch. She was involved in buying and selling a great deal of property in Louisville, as was her husband, John S. Chambers. John and Marybeth Chambers, along with Lyman and Helen Andrews, operated the businesses Andrews & Chambers, located on Front Street, then the Louisville Mercantile Company, located in the brick building that used to stand at 701 Main. All were from New York State, as was Welch. Marybeth and John Chambers were a prominent and influential couple in Louisville until John Chambers died, which appears to have occurred in the 1890s. Marybeth Chambers then moved to Denver to live with a relative, according to census records. County property records show that Asenath Virginia Hamilton, nicknamed Jennie, purchased the lots for 925 Jefferson by 1891, when the deed was recorded. Virginia Hamilton was from Missouri (born in 1851, it is believed) and her maiden name was Clemens. (Long after her death, it was believed by some in Louisville that she had been the sister of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), but they had been only distant cousins.) Virginia Hamilton and her husband, Thomas, were living in Erie with their five children when he was struck by lightning and killed at the age of 30 in 1878. He was principal of Erie schools and postmaster in Erie. The widowed Virginia and her children, who at that time ranged in age from 1 to 9, ended up living in Boulder in the early 1880s, then moved to Louisville. In the 1885 Colorado State Census, the family is shown as living on Main Street in Louisville and Virginia was already working as a school teacher to support her family. The County gives 1905 as an estimated date of construction for this house, but the house is believed to have been constructed earlier. Boulder County has sometimes been found to be in error with respect to the dates of construction of historic buildings in Louisville. The inventory record completed for 925 Jefferson in 1985 estimated that it was constructed in 1880-1890. The 1904 directory for Louisville has the Hamilton family, the owners of 925 Jefferson, as living on Jefferson Avenue north of Walnut, which is an accurate description of this property. Also, although the 1900 federal census does not indicate streets for Louisville, it does list the family as living very close to other families who resided on Jefferson, and states that the Hamiltons owned their house free of a mortgage. It seems likely that the house would have been constructed at around the time that Virginia Hamilton purchased the property in 1891. The house at 925 Jefferson appears in the correct location on the 1909 Drumm's Wall Map of Louisville and on the Methodist Church Map of Louisville that was made in circa 1923-25. 3