829 Lincoln Ave History - Laserfiche WebLink

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Balent came from Slovakia in the 1880s. In 1897, John Balent married Annie Letavec (sometimes spelled Litavec) (1881-1970) in Louisville. The following is their wedding photo: ell Annie Letavec was also from a Slovak family, her parents having immigrated to the U.S. a few years before she was born in Colorado. The Letavec family established themselves in Louisville by 1893 and they lived on La Farge Avenue. Census and directory records indicate that John and Annie Balent and their three children initially lived for several years with Annie's parents on La Farge. John and Annie Balent's children were John (1898-1969), Albert (1902-1990), and Ella Ann (1904-1983). Boulder County gives 1900 as the date of construction of 829 Lincoln, on both the Assessor Card from 1948 and on its current website. Boulder County has sometimes been found to be in error with respect to the construction dates of Louisville buildings, so other evidence is looked to. In this case, it seems most likely that the house was constructed in or soon after 1906, which is the year in which the developer sold it to Balent. The 1909 Drumm's Wall Map of Louisville shows the house in the correct location, so it seems clear that it was constructed by 1909. Based on this evidence, the likely date of construction was circa 1906-1909. The 1910 census records show the Balent family to be renting on Spruce Street, and apparently closer to downtown than where 829 Lincoln is located. It is possible that the family was still living in the Letavec house on La Farge, near Spruce, and renting out the house at 829 Lincoln. The 1916 Louisville directory is the first available directory giving addresses, and it shows that the Balents were living at 829 Lincoln, under its former address of 330 Lincoln. (Louisville's address system changed in 1939. The address of 330 Lincoln under Louisville's old address system is believed to correlate with the current address of 829 Lincoln, as even address numbers became odd, odds became evens, and the new addresses reflected a an addition of the number 500 to the address.) John Balent left Louisville in around 1916, but he left his mark on the community from his time in the town. After some time working as a coal miner, a job to which he appears to have returned from time to time, in the early 1900s John Balent began to operate a saloon on Front Street, near other saloons that made up an important part of Louisville's economy at the time. It was located at what is today the site of the corner plaza of the Louisville Public Library. The owner of the saloon property was the Ph. Zang Brewing Company, which had taken ownership of it after, apparently, the previous owner who had a saloon there defaulted on a secured loan from the brewing company. The Ph. [Phillip] Zang Brewing Company was headquartered in Denver and was a major beer manufacturer in the West. 2