Designations
Here is information on several of the properties listed in the Greeley Historic Register. Click here to download information on all individually listed Greeley Historic Register properties. (pdf file)
The Register includes an array of properties, including houses, commercial buildings, a ditch, a sign, an artesian well and two historic districts. Enjoy!
Boyd House
The house was originally constructed in 1879 by William A. Hopper and Mr. Bodgett and was originally owned by David Boyd. Boyd came to Greeley as a Union Colony member in 1870 and contributed significantly to Greeley in many ways. He served as a Union Colony trustee for ten years and was elected second president of the Union Colony, succeeding town founder Nathan Meeker. He also served as president of the Greeley School Board and superintendent of the Weld County Schools, president of the State Teachers’ Association and in the State Senate from 1892 to 1896.
One of his most useful contributions was his publication, History of Greeley and the Union Colony of Colorado. He also wrote Irrigation Near Greeley, Colorado, which was included in government reports.
This vernacular residence is a rectangular, one-and-a-half story, brick structure with an asphalt shingle, side gabled roof. Roof features include centered gabled wall dormers on the north (front) and south elevations and frieze under the eaves. It has a concrete-veneer stone foundation and brick exterior. The main facade is broken into three bays and contains a centered entrance. The one-story porch has square wood columns, a wood frieze under the boxed eaves and a hipped roof. It also has a concrete knee wall. Windows are primarily one-over-one double hung with storm windows. It has two brick chimneys, including on the main roof ridge and on the south wall of the main house.
Designated for historical and geographical significance in Feb 2007
First Baptist Church
Colorado architect Robert Wieger designed this church and it was constructed in 1910-11 for $43,000. The Baptists were the first denomination to construct a church in Greeley, completing the first building in 1871 and winning an award from the Union Pacific Railroad for the construction of the first building. The original building was a wood frame structure that grew as the congregation grew, however by 1907, the congregation was too large for the building with additions. They sold the property and purchased the land on which the 1911 church stands.
Dewitt Forward served as pastor of the church when the 1911 building was completed and established a system for allowing high school and college students to get credit for attending bible studies at the church. This was known as the “Greeley Plan,” and other churches in Greeley adopted it as well.
The church school was also recognized and students from the University of Chicago studied it because it was deemed “one of the most perfectly appointed and best equipped Sunday School plants in America” (qtd from Greeley Tribune reprint of story published by the University of Chicago Press, March 9, 1911).
The building has been in use continually as the Baptist church since it was constructed.
This Neoclassical/Classical Revival style church is a rectangular, three story brick structure with a flat roof. Roof features include a parapet with a cornice with dentil molding. The north, south and east elevations have triangular pediments with dentils. The entablature has a detailed cornice with dentils and a white painted frieze with “FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.” The west addition has a metal gable roof. The east elevation, which has the main entrance, has four sets of two-story round Ionic columns which are partially attached. It has a centered pediment with dentils on the east elevation. The centered entrance has steps leading up to it and a round arch with transom windows. Windows include round windows and vertically-oriented windows resting on the top of the raised brick-veneer foundation. Some windows have stone sills and one on the south elevation has a rounded pediment. Pediments on the north and south elevations have dentils and rest on entablatures, held up by square columns resting on the water table. The columns surround large arched windows divided into rectangular lights with x-shaped muntins. An entrance on the east end of the south elevation has a rounded pediment. A one-story arcade comes out from the south side of the west addition.
Wasson House
The house was built in approximately 1922 for A.W. and Frances Brown. A.W. was retired. The following year, E. Rae Couzens, who was employed at Farr Produce Company, occupied the house. City directories indicate that G.R. Vickroy and his wife Margaret occupied the house from approximately 1926 through 1928, possibly longer. He worked as an agent for the Union Pacific Railroad. By 1931, Karl and Beulah Warner lived here and he worked at Matthews Produce Company. In 1933, Byron Ebenhart lived here. Michael Reardon and his wife Jean lived here in 1936, while he worked for T & T Company. Willard Wistrahl, First Presbyterian Church Pastor, lived here in 1937. The City directories do not include an occupant at this address in 1930, 1935 and from 1938 through 1944. David and Hilga Lofgren were listed here in 1945 through 1956. David Lofgren operated Star Grocery on 9th Street, located at 804 9th Street between 1906 and 1910, for a total of 25 years. He then worked at the W.E. Anderson Produce Company. David and Hilga married in 1904 and she died in 1950, David in 1957. David’s son Rupert Lofgren, a farmer, and his wife Ann lived here with them in 1948, presumably in the basement apartment. He also worked at W.E. Anderson Produce Company, and then with his brothers Bill and Russell in a produce and trucking firm. In 1950, Reverend John Bartrug lived in the basement apartment. In 1954 through 1956, W.S. and Mildred Lofgren also lived here. He worked as a dental assistant. From 1959 through 1960, Hubbard Bernard lived here. Dwight R. Rush and his wife Madge lived here from 1962 through 1984. They married in 1926 and came to Greeley in 1936. Dwight was employed at Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado). The basement was rented out at various times. Dwight retired by 1969. John and Sidney Benner purchased the house in 1984 or 1985, and later sold it to the current owner Robert Wasson.
This Craftsman style bungalow is a rectangular, one-story, brick structure with an asphalt shingle, gabled roof. Roof features include triangular brackets in the gable ends and wide overhanging eaves. It has a brick veneer stone foundation and brick exterior. The one-story, full-width porch has brick knee walls with brick piers on the ends with concrete caps on the wall and low piers without columns by the centered steps. Windows are multi-light over one, wood frame and have storm windows. It has a basement entrance with concrete steps on the east side of the house.
Fine House
Local dry goods salesman F.E. Rockwell and his wife, Elizabeth were the first owners of this 1912 bungalow. Several other occupants resided here until 1928, when Albert R. Fine and his family moved into the home at 1120 16th Street. Mr. Fine was the owner of the Greeley Coca Cola Bottling Co. His father, Bent Fine, had first acquired the business, known as the Greeley Bottling Manufacturing Works, when he emigrated from Kansas in 1908. Upon his death in 1912, ownership transferred to his wife and two sons. Albert eventually bought them out and became the sole owner of the company in 1922. Mr. Fine was an active member of the Greeley community, serving as President of the Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Weld County Red Cross, as well as sitting on the Advisory Board for the Salvation Army and serving as a member of the Rotary Club. Albert died in 1949 and his wife, Maude Fine, became the President of the company and lived in the house until just before her death in 1971. Maude Fine was also active in the community, serving as a member of the Soroptomist Club, the Oasis Rebekah Lodge, and the Daughters of Union Veterans organization. Their son, Donald, who served in the Air Force during World War II and later graduated from Colorado State College, was raised in the house as well.
Patrick A. Wilkinson, a teacher at Platte Valley High School in Kersey, Colorado, and his wife Marie, a needlework designer, moved into the house in 1972, residing there until the late 1980’s. Records indicate that Michael & Dolly Lang lived at the residence until the mid-1990s. The property changed hands several times until Carolyn Benton, the current owner of the residence, purchased the property in early 2008.
This Craftsman style bungalow is a rectangular, one-story, wood frame structure with an asphalt shingle, cross-gabled roof. Roof features include decorative, triangular knee braces underneath overhanging eaves, as well as exposed roof beams. It has a poured concrete foundation and wood shingle siding with several feet of lap siding above the foundation. The gable ends are stucco with simulated half-timbering. A shed dormer is located on the west side of the residence. There are also two window wells set on both the east and west sides of the concrete foundation. The one-story, partial-width porch has doubled square upper support columns which are set on the porch wall. Open, vertical porch railing exists between the support piers. Windows are predominantly one-over-one wood frame double hung. A single transom window is present on the main façade, situated west of the doorway. A six-light fixed window is also present on the main façade gable end. The original interior, brick chimney is located on the south slope of the roof. A detached two car garage is situated south of the main residence. The rectangular, wooden structure consists of a front gabled roof with asphalt shingles. Roof features also include overhanging eaves and exposed roof beams, consistent with the main residence. The detached garage was constructed at the same time or soon after the house. It also has a poured concrete foundation and wood shingle siding with several feet of lap siding above the foundation, again consistent with the main residence. The main entrance to the garage consists of large, double doors on the east side of the structure. There have not been significant exterior renovations to the house.