817 Spruce St Historic Survey 2000

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Resource Number: 5BL8027 Temporary Resource Number: NIA Architectural Inventory Form (Page 3 of 5) V. HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS 31. Original use(s): Single Dwelling 32. Intermediate use(s): Single Dwelling 33. Current use(s): Single Dwelling 34. Site type(s): Residence 35. Historical Background This house was built circa 1904, and it has served as a single-family dwelling since that time. Although the home's original and early owners are unknown, there is a good chance that some members of their families were employed at area coal mines. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Louisville's economy was based, to a great extent, on the area's coal industry. As a result, the livelihoods of most of the community's inhabitants were directly, or indirectly, dependent on coal. From approximately the mid-1950s, to the early 1970s, this was the residence of Pasquale and Clara Scarpella. In the 1959 Boulder County Directory, Mr. Scarpella's occupation is listed as clerk for the CB&Q Railroad. The Scarpellas were a long-time Louisville family, having come here at about the turn of the twentieth century. Pasquale Scarpella was the son of Thomas and Genevie Scarpella, and he had grown up in a home at 936 Jefferson Avenue. In the early 1940s, Thomas Scarpella worked as a conveyor man at the Centennial Mine. In addition to Pasquale, Thomas' and Genevie's other children were Frank, Charles, and Carmen. Frank Scarpella was also a coal miner. In 1971, this property was acquired by its current owner, Russel O. Davies of Longmont. He has apparently maintained it as a rental from that time to the present. 36. Sources of Information (Boulder County) "Real Estate Appraisal Card - Urban Master", on file at the Boulder Carnegie Library. Polk'sBoulder County Directory [generally published annually], Denver, Kansas City, and Salt Lake City: R.L. Polk and Company Publishers. Polk'sLongmont City Directory, [generally published annually], Denver, Kansas City, and Salt Lake City: R.L. Polk and Company, Publishers, 1966 - 1997. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, dated August 1893, November 1900, and August 1908.