1013 LaFarge Ave History - Laserfiche WebLink

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According to the 2018 report "Stories in Places: Putting Louisville's Residential Development in Context" (Microsoft Word - Final Louisville Residential Context 111918 (louisvilleco.gov)) written by PaleoWest Archaeology for the City of Louisville, "A distinctive type of house present in Barclay Place is a Pyramidal/Hipped-roof cottage with a small gabled -front projection on the side (Figure 140). Four are located on the same block at 1013, 1021, 1029, and 1040 La Farge Avenue" (p. 134). The Residential Context Report featured this photo of 1021 La Farge and its two "sister" homes on its cover: Stones in Places: Putting Louisville's Residential Development in Context Boulder Calmly, Colorado The Residential Context Report also states: "[T]he houses located at 822, 1013, 1021, 1029, and 1040 La Farge and 548 Lincoln Avenue have a very distinctive form comprising a pyramidal- or hipped -roof main portion and a small, front -gabled room on the side.... All of these houses date between 1903 and 1912. PaleoWest recommends ... further investigating the origins of these house plans. E.J. Di Francia reportedly purchased or constructed the houses at 1013, 1021, and 1029 La Farge Avenue for his daughters (Bacon 2016d). These houses appear similar or identical (i.e., 1021 La Farge Avenue) to the Northern Coal and Coke Company's coal camp house Type C (Figure 145). In the early 1900s, that company and the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company constructed many different types of houses for mine workers. When the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company consolidated ownership of several mines after the Long Strike of 1910- 1914, and again after most mines closed in the 1930s, mining companies sold many houses to private owners (Conarroe 2017:3; Lewis 2011:2). The three Di Francia houses were in place before 1910, and possibly as early as 1906 (Bacon 2016d:4), making it unlikely that they originated at a coal mine. However, it is possible that private builders copied or borrowed from the coal companies' house plans (Doug Conarroe personal communication, October 10, 2017). PaleoWest recommends that further research be conducted into why the aforementioned houses on La Farge and Lincoln Avenues and the Type C coal company house are so similar" (page 151). The preceding research is based on a review of relevant and available online County property records, census records, oral history interviews, Louisville directories, and Louisville Historical Museum maps, files, and obituary records.