825 LaFarge Ave Historic Survey - Laserfiche WebLink

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Resource Number: 5BL 7993 Temporary Resource Number: 157508414004 Eligible Not eligible X Need data Explain: While the property has sufficient integrity and significance to be a contributing resource to a potential historic district, it lacks sufficient integrity to be individually eligible to the National Register. The house has integrity of location, setting, workmanship, feeling and association. Integrity of design is compromised by the visually prominent replacement windows. Integrity of materials is lost due to the non -historic stucco exterior finish. 13A. Colorado State Register: Eligible Not Eligible X 13B. Louisville Local Landmark: Eligible X Not Eligible Although the property lacks sufficient integrity to be individually eligible to the National or State Registers, it is significant for its long association with the Castrillis and Biellas, Italian coal mining families. Santino and Mary Biella are locally significant as the owners/operators of the local Rex Theatre. Their son Arnold Biella, who grew up in the house, is significant in the field of education as he developed California's first television instruction program offering college credits. 13C. Historic District Potential: Jefferson Place is eligible as a State Register and a local historic district. There is National Register district potential. This house would be a contributing resource. The garage would be non- contributing. There is also potential for a small State Register historic district comprised of the extended Zarini family residences on the 800 block of LaFarge. 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. There is also potential for a small State Register historic district comprised of six properties in the 800 block of LaFarge that were owned and occupied by members of the extended Zarini family, for over 80 years in some cases. The properties are 801 Spruce (5BL11320), 817 Spruce (5BL8027), 804 LaFarge (5BL7983), 808 LaFarge (5BL7985), 822 LaFarge (5BL7991) and 825 LaFarge (5BL7993). The Zarini family came to Jefferson Place from Italy in the early 1890s and worked in local coal mines. In addition to their mining expertise, the 8