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Resource Number: 5BL7980
<br />Temporary Resource Number: 157508426008
<br />rear alleys. Houses are built to a fairly consistent setback line along the streets with small front lawns, deep
<br />rear yards and mature landscaping. Small, carefully maintained single-family residences predominate. Most of
<br />the houses are wood framed, one or one and one-half stories in height, featuring white or light-colored
<br />horizontal wood or steel siding, gabled or hipped asphalt shingled roofs and front porches. While many of the
<br />houses have been modified over the years, most of the historic character -defining features have been
<br />preserved.
<br />721 LaFarge is consistent with these patterns and blends well with the scale and character of the neighborhood.
<br />9. Changes in Condition: None.
<br />10. Changes to Location or Size Information: None.
<br />11. Changes in Ownership: Same ownership as 2000 inventory form.
<br />12. Other Changes, Additions, or Observations:
<br />Further research has yielded new information about the history of 721 La Farge. It has also been found that the
<br />Anthony and Filomena Ross family did not live at 721 La Farge, as was suggested in the 2000 survey.
<br />721 La Farge was owned by the related Winkler/Dionigi family for seventy-two years, from 1918 to 1990. John "Ring"
<br />Dionigi was a prominent citizen, running the town as its primary administrator for many years. Also, Ring Dionigi's
<br />marriage to Lizzie Winkler represented a combining of two cultures, Italian and Austrian, an occurrence that, while
<br />not unheard of, was also not common at the time. Both families were Catholic. Prior to ownership by the
<br />Winkler/Dionigi family, this house was the residence of William and Margaret Atkin, who were early Louisville
<br />pioneers from England.
<br />The first owner of the property, after developer Charles Welch, was Ralph English. The 1885 Colorado State Census
<br />shows Ralph and his wife, Annie, living in Louisville, apparently in the vicinity of La Farge. They are listed as being
<br />from England and having two young children, John W. and Dorothy. Ralph English was a coal miner. The deed,
<br />though not recorded until 1895, would have to have been signed between 1880 and 1887.
<br />In 1887, according to the online Boulder County property records, English conveyed the property at 721 La Farge to
<br />Lyman E. Andrews, John S. Chambers, and their partnership, Andrews & Chambers. The two men operated a
<br />general merchandise store in downtown Louisville in the 1880s. Additionally, Andrews was the Louisville postmaster
<br />from 1883 to at least 1889. Both Andrews and Chambers also engaged in real estate transactions in Louisville. The
<br />brick Miners Trading Co. building that was constructed on the northwest corner of Pine and Main (a short distance
<br />away from this address) is believed to have been owned and operated by Andrews and Chambers and their wives. It
<br />is not known whether either of the men and their families resided at this location.
<br />The 2000 historical survey completed on this property correctly concluded that this house was constructed in circa
<br />1890, and certainly prior to 1893, as it appears in the correct location on the 1893 Sanborn map for Louisville (and
<br />also appears on the 1900 and 1908 Sanborn maps, and on the 1909 Drumm's Wall Map of Louisville). It is possible
<br />that it was constructed even before 1890, as owner Ralph English and his family appear from the 1885 Colorado
<br />State Census records to be residing in the vicinity of what is now 721 La Farge.
<br />In 1891, Andrews and Chambers conveyed the property to William Atkin. Atkin was one of Louisville's early settlers
<br />from England, and he was a coal miner. The house would be in his family for twenty-six years.
<br />William Atkin was born in 1854 and was 37 in 1891. His wife, Margaret, was two years younger. According to the
<br />1900 federal census, which shows them living in Louisville in this vicinity, William emigrated to the United States in
<br />1879 and Margaret in 1881. As with many other Louisville families who came from England, the Atkin family is
<br />believed to have come from Durham, which was a coal mining area. By the time of the 1885 Colorado State Census,
<br />they were residing in Louisville.
<br />The 1904 directory for Louisville lists William and Margaret Atkin as living on La Farge between Spruce and Pine,
<br />which is the location of 721 La Farge. Also, William is listed there as the mine foreman at the Rex No. 1 Mine in
<br />Louisville. In 1916, he was called the "superintendent" of the Rex Mine.
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