725 Jefferson Ave Historic Survey

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Resource Number: 5BL 11299 Temporary Resource Number: 157508427003 41. Level of significance: NA National State Local 42. Statement of significance: This house is associated with the historic development of Louisville as one of the early twentieth-century homes in Louisville's first residential subdivision, Jefferson Place. While it does not have the integrity or significance to be eligible to the State or National Registers, it is worthy of nomination as a local landmark for its nearly 40-year association with the Romano family, an Italian coal mining family. 43. Assessment of historic physical integrity related to significance: The property has integrity of location. Integrity of setting is compromised by the large 2-car garage constructed in 1993. It retains integrity of feeling, association, and workmanship. Integrity of design is compromised but not entirely lost, due to the enclosure of the front porch and the rear additions. Integrity of design is not lost due to these changes because the front porch enclosure maintained the original opening sizes, and because the large additions are in the back. Integrity of materials is lost due to replacement siding, which has been replaced at least twice. VII. NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBILITY ASSESSMENT 44. National Register eligibility field assessment: Eligible Not Eligible X Need Data 45. Is there National Register district potential? Yes X No Historic District Potential: Jefferson Place is eligible as a State Register and local historic district. There is potential for a National Register historic district. This property is non-contributing due to loss of integrity from replacement siding. Discuss: This building is being recorded as part of a 2010-2011 intensive -level historical and architectural survey of Jefferson Place, Louisville's first residential subdivision, platted in 1880. The purpose of the survey is to determine if there is potential for National Register, State Register or local historic districts. Jefferson Place is eligible as a State Register historic district under Criterion A, Ethnic Heritage, European, for its association with European immigrants who first lived here and whose descendants continued to live here for over fifty years. The period of significance for the State Register historic district is 1881 — 1980. Jefferson Place is potentially eligible as a National Register historic district under Criterion A, Ethnic Heritage, European. However it needs data to determine dates of some modifications, and to more definitely establish the significant impacts of various European ethnic groups on the local culture of Louisville. The period of significance of a National Register district is 1881 — 1963. Jefferson Place is eligible as a local Louisville historic district under local Criterion B, Social, as it exemplifies the cultural and social heritage of the community. European immigrant families flocked to Colorado coal mining communities, including Louisville, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in search of economic opportunities they could not find in their own countries. Louisville's Welch Coal Mine, along with other mines in the area, recruited skilled workers from western Europe. In the early years before 1900, most of the miners who lived in Jefferson Place came from English-speaking countries. Immigrants from England brought a strong tradition and expertise in coal mining. The English are widely credited with developing the techniques of coal mining that were used locally, and they taught these techniques to other miners. The British mining culture was instilled in the early Colorado coal mines. English immigrants also brought expertise in other necessary skills such as blacksmithing and chain forging. Later Jefferson Place residents arrived from Italy, France, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia, among other places. The Italians eventually became the largest single ethnic group in Jefferson Place and in Louisville as a whole. About one-third of the houses in Jefferson Place were owned and occupied by Italian immigrants. Italian immigrants left their mark on Louisville in the food and beverage industries. To the present day, downtown Louisville is known throughout the Front Range for its tradition of Italian restaurants. The impacts of the heritage and customs of the other European ethnic groups could be significant, but are not well documented and need further investigation. If there is National Register district potential, is this building: Contributing Noncontributing X 6