Tour of Historic Downtown Golden
Faragher Residence
807 9th Street
Built in 1873
Designed and constructed by James B. & Henry C. Baker (probable)
Listed on the Golden Historic Register, 8th & 9th Street Historic District
Brothers James B. and Henry C. Baker, who designed several of the architectural crown jewels of Golden, designed and built this place as their office in which they drew their creations in 1873. Afterwards it became the private home of Marcus L. Bates, and from there to the hands of Ralston Creek rancher Robert Faragher. Faragher, an immigrant from the Isle of Man, long worked at the mines of Black Hawk in positions of responsibility. This shotgun-style home, now stuccoed with several additions, is also an individually designated Golden landmark. (Images from left - building in 1882, courtesy Gardner Family Collection; Faragher Residence today, courtesy Gardner Family Collection)
Barron Building
908 Washington Avenue
Built in 1879
Listed on the Golden Historic Register, 8th & 9th Street Historic District
One of Golden's first shoemakers, Alexander Barron, built this place on the northern edge of downtown to house his shop, originally half its present size and featuring a wooden false front. Through much of the 19th Century Barron's was the main shoe establishment in Golden, and around the turn of the 20th Century he sold the building to Zina H. Wannemaker. Wannemaker, the blacksmith next door to the south, added the rear addition and used this building as his carriage painting shop. Afterwards it was converted to its present appearance and became a private home for many years. During the 1980s it resumed use as a commercial establishment, and is one of the few wooden storefronts of the many that were once downtown. (Images from left - Barron Building with original false front in 1882, courtesy Gardner Family Collection; Barron Building in 1920s, courtesy Gardner Family Collection; Barron Building today, courtesy Gardner Family Collection)
Plantz Residence
912 Washington Avenue (front)
Built in 1953
Listed on the Golden Historic Register, 8th & 9th Street Historic District
Site of Washington Avenue Blacksmith Shop (1867-circa 1950)
This house is the most recent built in downtown Golden, designed in Modernist style. It was the home of A.L. Plantz, standing on the historic site of the Washington Avenue Blacksmith Shop, established here in 1879 by Civil War Union veteran Henry L. Wannemaker. Going from wagon repair to wagon sales, then to automobile repair, then auto sales, it lasted here and elsewhere for 128 years, becoming Golden Ford. The Plantz family still lives in this home, now in its second generation here. (Image - Plantz Residence today, courtesy Gardner Family Collection)
Wannemaker Residence
912 Washington Avenue (rear)
Built in 1894
Listed on the Golden Historic Register, 8th & 9th Street Historic District
This house, always hiding at the rear of its property, was built here in 1894 when the Wannemakers' blacksmith shop was standing in front of it. Zina H. Wannamaker, its original owner, came to Golden in the 1870s from the mining country of Wisconsin. He and brother Henry were among several prominent members of this well-known Golden area family. Zina was the second owner of the blacksmith shop, which became one of Colorado's longest-lived businesses. (Images from left - Wannemaker Residence today, courtesy Gardner Family Collection; Zina H. Wannemaker, courtesy Colorado Transcript)
Quick Residence
914 Washington Avenue
Built in 1873, moved here c. 1945
Listed on the Golden Historic Register, 8th & 9th Street Historic District
Site of Jefferson House (1859-circa 1945)
On this site for many years stood the Jefferson House, one of Golden's first hotels. Not long after it was demolished this near lookalike was moved here during the 1940s. Silas W. Fisher built it in 1873 near the southeast corner of 13th and Ford. Afterwards it was home to Herbert Tracy Quick, a prominent Golden builder and lumber dealer, who added onto the house many times. Many of Golden's buildings were built of lumber from Quick's yard, which lasted in business into the 1970s. (Images from left - Quick Residence at original location in 1893, courtesy Golden Globe; Quick Residence today, courtesy Gardner Family Collection)
Stewart Block
922 Washington Avenue
Built in 1892
Listed on the Golden Historic Register, 8th & 9th Street Historic District
Site of Clement Building (1867-1892)
Golden Mayor James E. Nankivell and longtime grocery partner Robert Jones built this place as the Nankivell & Jones Block in 1892. When their store fell to the Silver Crash in 1893, Simon E. Parshall and Caleb Ellsworth Parfet took over, moving their own stock here. The 2nd floor served the Knights of Pythias lodge, whose initials are still upon the window keystones today. Around 1900 Elvyn E. Stewart bought the grocery and gave the building his own name, and Woodmen Lodge #10 built a small matching rear addition in 1910. Rocky Ford Cigars took over the south wall's advertising mural during the 1920s, and one-armed painter Alexander Rogers created their Indian that still keeps watch today, while holding the paintbrushes in his mouth. Not long thereafter the upper floor served a use decidedly counter to the building's icon, the meeting place of the local organization of the Ku Klux Klan. After serving as Golden's recreation center which Coors brewmaster Leonard Vogel gave to the City in 1944, the Stewart Block served nearly 50 years as a laundromat. Today it is also an individually designated Golden landmark. (Images in rows from left - Stewart Block in 1893, courtesy Golden Globe; Rocky Ford Cigars logo, courtesy Gardner Family Collection; Stewart Block in 1890s, courtesy Golden Pioneer Museum; Interior of Stewart Grocery in 1900s, courtesy Ronzio Collection, Golden Landmarks Association Collection; Stewart Block today, courtesy Gardner Family Collection)
American Mountaineering Center
710 10th Street
Built in 1922-1924
Designed by Eugene G. Groves
Constructed by H.W. Axtell & Charles J. Buckman
Listed on the Golden, Colorado and National Historic Registers
Site of Kirby Building (1859-circa 1900); Eagle Corral (1860-1921); First Christian Church (1873-1922)
From 1860 to 1922 the famed Eagle Corral stood here, catering to old-time freighers and travelers. Its remains and the chapel of the first Disciples of Christ congregation in Colorado were removed to make way for a new Golden High School, the oldest high school in Colorado. Noted Denver architect Eugene G. Groves built this edifice in the impressive Beaux Arts style, including frescoes, terra cotta and polychrome Columbines, Colorado's state flower. Inside is the painting "Dawn of the West," painted by famous Santa Fe artist Gerald R. Cassidy in memory of prominent Golden clay mining baron and banker Harold M. Rubey, commissioned by Rubey's brother Jesse. After ceasing use as a senior high school in 1956, then as a junior high in 1988, this building has been converted into the American Mountaineering Center, home of the venerable Colorado Mountain Club and American Alpine Club. (Images from left - Golden High School design by Eugene G. Groves, courtesy Colorado Transcript; Golden High School in the 1920s, courtesy Gardner Family Collection)
Parfet Park
1001 Washington Avenue
Built in 1925
Site of Boston Building (1859-1925); Eldorado Hotel (1859-circa 1870); Nankivell & Jones Block (1871-1925)
In Golden's first urban renewal effort the North Side Improvement Association, led by George Washington Parfet, endeavored to improve the beleagered appearance of Golden north of Clear Creek through this two-block redevelopment effort beginning with the new Golden High School. Once that was completed, the Association turned its attention to this block to create a companion park for the new school, following in the ideals of the City Beautiful movement of the time which emphasized beautiful public buildings within landscaped public spaces. Originally this park was half its present size, with Water Street as a southern terminus, and it incorporated the existing mature trees around the places demolished or moved to make way for it. Parfet died not long after the creation of his dream, and so this park, Golden's 3rd and now oldest park, was named for him. Renowned Santa Fe artist Gerald Cassidy was hired to create a memorial sculpture for Parfet in the center of the park, using rocks to emphasize the clay miner's connection with the earth. After the abandonment of the Golden Mill race and city dump to the south in 1952 Parfet Park was expanded all the way to the river, yet the concrete maintenance hatch of the historic water power race remains as the park's trap door today. Long owned by Jefferson County, the park was transferred to City hands during the 1970s, and remains a true focal center for civic events today. (Images in rows from left - Parfet Park in 1929, courtesy Colorado Transcript; Parfet Park today, courtesy Gardner Family Collection)