701 Grant Ave History - Baptist Church - updated

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Bridget Bacon Louisville Historical Museum Department of Library & Museum Services City of Louisville, Colorado February 2019 `City of Louisville COLORADO • SINCE 1878 701 Grant Avenue — Baptist Church Building Legal Description: Lots 10 & 11, Block 8, Pleasant Hill Addition Year of Construction: 1901 Summary: This building was constructed in 1901 to be the Louisville Baptist Church. It was both a place of worship and a Louisville gathering place where many thousands of people have sought community since it was built. A rear addition was added in 1946, and records indicate that this annex was expanded further in 1958. Yet more expansion work was done in at least the 1960s and 1980s. The building served as the Baptist Church until about 1971, when church leaders sold it to be a residence and established a new church elsewhere. It has been owned as a residence for nearly fifty years, after about seventy years as a church. This building and the Methodist Church building at 741 Jefferson are the only original church buildings in Louisville that date back to that early era and that are still standing. 1. Development of Louisville's Pleasant Hill Addition; Date of Construction The subdivision in which this house is located, Pleasant Hill Addition, was platted in 1894. The subdivision was developed in the name of Orrin Welch, the half-brother of Charles C. Welch. Charles Welch was the person most responsible for the establishment of Louisville in 1878 after he established the first coal mine in this area in 1877. Orrin Welch is not known to have ever lived in Colorado, and it is Charles C. Welch who is thought to have been the de facto developer. A Boulder County Assessor card for this property could not be located, and one may not have been created since this was a church building. Typically, such a card would include at least an estimated date of construction. The Boulder County website gives 1904 as the date of construction of this building. Boulder County has been found to be in error with respect to the date of construction of some Louisville buildings, so other evidence is looked to. In this case, we know that the Baptist Church congregation was established in Louisville in 1898 and that the Church leaders went to work to acquire property and construct a building. Boulder County property records show that in 1899, Church leaders acquired ownership of Lots 10 and 11, Block 8, from Orrin Welch (by power of attorney given to his half-brother, Charles C. Welch). 1