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Resource Number: 5BL11316
<br />Temporary Resource Number: 157508435014
<br />The Stecker family first acquired at least Lot 1 of Block 7 in 1882. (It is not clear from the online County property
<br />records whether this transaction also included Lots 2 and 3, but no separate warranty deed covering these lots was
<br />located.) The 1885 state census shows the "Stecher" family living in Louisville. Boulder County property records
<br />indicate that the Steckers acquired Lot 5, which constitutes 720 Pine, in 1889. It appears that they acquired 722 Pine,
<br />which is Lot 4, in 1909 (although this warranty deed was not recorded until 1932).
<br />The 1948 Boulder County Assessor card for this house at 720 Pine gives as the date of construction as 1902.
<br />Nothing was found that would contradict this date. The 1909 Drumm's Wall Map shows only the primary building
<br />standing on a particular piece of property, and as the Steckers owned Lots 1 through 5 with three houses on the five
<br />lots, only the primary residence of 633 La Farge is shown on the 1909 map. The 1893 and 1900 Sanborn maps show
<br />a structure in a slightly different location on Lot 5 from how the current house at 720 Pine appears (it is at an angle
<br />instead of parallel with Pine Street). However, the Sanborn map for 1908 shows a dwelling in the right place at 720
<br />Pine, suggesting that 720 Pine was constructed between 1900 and 1908. (Unfortunately, the western edge of Lot 5
<br />at 720 Pine is cut off on the all three Sanborn maps.)
<br />Joseph and Agatha Stecker had five children, of whom only one, Annie, lived to adulthood. Two sons died in the
<br />1890s in Louisville and are buried at Sacred Heart of Mary Cemetery (located between Louisville and Boulder), as
<br />are their parents, Joseph and Agatha.
<br />Louisville directories first show a record for Joe "Sticker," a miner, in 1892. By 1896, he was both a miner and a
<br />dairyman. According to a written history prepared by the family, the Steckers kept cows at 633 La Farge "and sold
<br />milk, delivered in 5-pound lard pails." Agatha carried on their dairy business even after the death of Joe in 1904; the
<br />1906 directory shows her still operating the dairy.
<br />The 1904 Louisville directory shows Agatha Stecker, a widow, living at La Farge and Pine with her daughter, Annie.
<br />Agatha continued living at 633 La Farge for several more years. However, by the time of the 1916 directory, Agatha
<br />had moved next door to 722 Pine (then called 410 Pine). Agatha conveyed her ownership to these lots to her
<br />daughter, Annie, in 1919. It appears that Agatha continued to live at 722 Pine until near the time of her death in 1931.
<br />At the time that Agatha moved to 722 Pine, her daughter, Annie, continued to occupy 633 La Farge, now with her
<br />husband, Robert Kerr, whom she married in 1909. Robert Kerr was born in Colorado in 1879 of an Irish born father
<br />and Canadian born mother. According to the family's written history, this Kerr family came to Louisville in 1900. Annie
<br />and Robert Kerr raised their daughters, Alma and Bertha, at 633 La Farge with Agatha Stecker living next door at
<br />722 Pine.
<br />Annie Stecker Kerr passed away in 1931 and Robert Kerr passed away in 1937. Their daughter, Alma, married Floyd
<br />Brennan; their daughter, Bertha, moved to California. In 1953, Bertha conveyed her interest in the family properties
<br />to her sister, Alma.
<br />Louisville directories show that Alma and Floyd Brennan resided at 722 Pine, where Alma's grandmother Agatha
<br />Stecker had lived, in the 1950s. This is shown in the directories for 1955 through 1960.
<br />At different times, the houses at 633 La Farge, 722 Pine, and 720 Pine were rented out. It has been found that
<br />Louisa Nun was living at 720 Pine, then called 414 Pine, in 1916 (based on the Louisville directory from that year).
<br />Directories also show that Florian and Betty Polluconi lived at 720 Pine during the period of 1955-1960. He was a
<br />carpenter and construction worker.
<br />By 1966, Alma and Floyd Brennan were residing at 633 La Farge. Floyd Brennan worked for thirty-five years as a
<br />labor foreman with a construction company and passed away in 1984. Alma Brennan passed away in 1999.
<br />Today, descendants of the Stecker/Kerr/Brennan family continue to own the three properties of 633 La Farge, 722
<br />Pine, and 720 Pine.
<br />36. Sources of information:
<br />Boulder County "Real Estate Appraisal Card — Urban Master," on file at the Carnegie Branch Library for Local History
<br />in Boulder, Colorado.
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