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Resource Number: 5BL8026
<br />Temporary Resource Number: 157508425001
<br />The parcel on which this house sits may have been owned by Louis Gutfelder along with the properties at 800/804
<br />Spruce (5BL925) and 728 La Farge (5BL919) as one parcel. This was difficult to determine with certainty because in
<br />the online property records from the Boulder County Recorder's Office, the legal description for 810 Spruce is
<br />identical to that of 800/804 Spruce (which describes both properties as being "part" of Lots 11 & 12, Block 2,
<br />Jefferson Place).
<br />The earliest ownership and usage of this specific site could not be located. However, the Town of Louisville at some
<br />point came to own this property, as is shown by the fact that the Town conveyed it to George R. Henning in 1946.
<br />Henning owned and operated Henning Mortuary at 844 Main Street (5BL8043) from 1923 to 1960, was mayor from
<br />1926 to 1930, and is widely acknowledged as having made many positive contributions to the welfare and
<br />development of Louisville.
<br />Henning sold the property in 1951 to John Kenneth ("Kenneth") Gardner (1903-1972) and Julia Smith Gardner (1905-
<br />1961). This would begin a period of ownership by the same family that continues to this day. Kenneth Gardner
<br />worked as a carpenter and was originally from South Dakota, although he was in Louisville by the time of the 1930
<br />census. Julia was born in Louisville as the daughter of Louisville pioneers George and Grace Smith, who came from
<br />England.
<br />The Louisville directories from the 1940s and early 1950s show that Kenneth and Julia Gardner resided at 700
<br />Spruce (5BL11318), which is also located in the Jefferson Place subdivision. It has also been confirmed from
<br />property records that the Gardners owned 700 Spruce from 1943 to 1955. As Kenneth and Julia Gardner are not
<br />listed in Louisville directories from later in the 1950s and 1960s, it is not clear whether they lived at 810 Spruce at
<br />any time while they owned it.
<br />The Smith family of Louisville had a significant presence in the vicinity of Spruce in the Jefferson Place subdivision.
<br />In addition to Julia Smith Gardner being an owner of 810 Spruce, and owning and residing at 700 Spruce, her brother
<br />Ed Smith lived at 801 La Farge (5BL852) and had a store, Ed Smith's, at 805 La Farge (5BL7984). The 1946
<br />directory for Louisville shows that Julia Gardner worked at Ed Smith's store. Also, their cousin, Margaret Smith, was
<br />part of the Harris family that owned and resided at 801 Spruce (5BL8026).
<br />Darrell and Loraine Bryan are listed in directories for both 1958 and 1959 as living at 810 Spruce. Darrell Bryan is
<br />listed as working as a coal miner, although the last coal mine in the area closed in 1955. Lorraine Bryan, whose
<br />maiden name was Scran, was (like Julia Gardner) related to the Harris family that lived at 801 Spruce.
<br />After Julia Gardner died in 1961, Kenneth Gardner remarried to Violet Bednar Bonelli in 1962. Violet Bednar was
<br />born in 1913 and grew up in Superior, Colorado as the daughter of Joseph Bednar. In 1932, Violet married Ernest
<br />Bonelli, who was born and raised in Superior and worked at the Industrial Mine in Superior. Ernest died in 1962.
<br />Following the death of her second husband, Kenneth Gardner, in 1972, Violet Gardner inherited 810 Spruce.
<br />According to the 2000 survey report written about this property, Violet Gardner resided at 810 Spruce beginning in
<br />the late 1960s. She is also shown as living at 810 Spruce in a 2003 Cole Directory for Longmont, Boulder, and
<br />Vicinity that was consulted. Violet passed away in 2006 at the age of 92. Another resident of the house was Violet's
<br />son, Anthony Bonelli, who passed away in 2010. In the period since her death, the owner has been Louise Bonelli
<br />Bennett of California, who is the daughter of Violet Gardner and the stepdaughter of Kenneth Gardner.
<br />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.
<br />Boulder County Clerk & Recorder's Office and Assessor's Office public records, accessed through
<br />http://recorder.bouldercountv.orq.
<br />Directories of Louisville residents and businesses on file at the Louisville Historical Museum.
<br />Census records and other records accessed through www.ancestrv.com .
<br />Drumm's Wall Map of Louisville, Colorado, 1909
<br />Sanborn Insurance Maps for Louisville, Colorado, 1893, 1900, and 1908
<br />Green Mountain Cemetery Index to Interment Books, 1904-1925, Boulder Genealogical Society, 2006.
<br />Louisville Times Centennial Edition, August 17, 1978.
<br />Archival materials on file at the Louisville Historical Museum.
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