917 LaFarge Ave Historic Survey - Laserfiche WebLink

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Resource Number: 5BL 7998 Temporary Resource Number: 157508405008 Archival materials on file at the Louisville Historical Museum. Lafayette Leader, January 22, 1937, acquired at the Lafayette, Colorado Public Library. Emailed information to Bridget Bacon, Museum Coordinator, from Dennis Braeutigam, son of Mayme Damiana, August 17 & 23, 2010. 13. National Register Eligibility Assessment: Eligible Not eligible X Need data Explain: While the property has sufficient integrity and significance to be a local landmark, it lacks sufficient integrity and significance to be individually eligible to the National Register. The property has integrity of location, workmanship, feeling and association. Integrity of design is compromised by the modified window openings, the replacement porch columns and the addition connecting the Summer Kitchen to the house. Integrity of materials is compromised by the non -original asbestos siding. Integrity of setting is compromised by the close proximity of the 1970s modular home to the south at 914 LaFarge (5BL7997). 13A. Colorado State Register: Eligible Not Eligible X 13B. Louisville Local Landmark: Eligible X Not Eligible The property is worthy of nomination as a Louisville Local Landmark due to its long association with the Damiana and Porta families, both of which were Italian immigrant coal -mining families. 13C. 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. 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. 5