DISCOVERIES

Thomas J. McGovern, an Irish immigrant who came to the United States in 1901, worked as a dairyman in the North Swansea area. By 1911 he owned his own dairy, the Princeton Farm Dairy, located at 5200 Adams Street.

This house is one of several farmhouses that still exist among blocks of post-war housing in the Elyria Swansea neighborhood. Research by Discover Denver volunteers showed that the house was likely built by Irish immigrants William and Bridget McElroy around 1886.

This small terrace-type building was built c.1886 by Frank and Eliza Grimes, Irish immigrants who came to the United States in 1882. The pair spent several years in New York before moving west and settling in Denver.

George Ostermiller, a German-speaking immigrant from Russia, likely built this modest Globeville home c.1905. The 1910 Federal census shows Ostermiller, his wife Lizzie and two children living here. George immigrated to the United States in 1899 and worked as a car repairman for the nearby railroad.

Philip Hahn purchased this property in 1902. While the 1905 Baist map of Denver shows a small frame residence at this location, a 1908 building permit indicates that the current brick residence replaced it. It is possible that the Hahn family lived in the existing frame residence before building the more permanent house that stands here today.

This two-story brick apartment building was built in 1924 by building contractor Josiah T. Vincent. Vincent and his wife, Elmira, were Pennsylvania natives who arrived in Denver prior to 1879. Early tenants of the building were middle-class Denver residents who likely commuted to their jobs via the streetcar that once ran in front of the building.

This home was likely built around 1888 by Priscilla T. Bell, the widow of Reverend John Dempster Bell. Before arriving in Denver in 1884, previous stops for the couple included Canon City and Los Angeles. In addition to preaching, Reverend Bell was an author. His books include A Man (1860) and The Great Slighted Fortune (1878).

This is the 1912 home of William Meikleham, owner of the Old Homestead Bakery. The house was designed by T. Robert Wieger, a well-known Denver architect who also worked with F. O. Stanley to design the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. The bakery was located just behind the home, on the current site of the Decatur Point apartments.