SOUTH GAYLORD STREET

Driving through Denver’s old streetcar commercial districts, it’s easy to wonder about the businesses that have occupied those great old brick buildings. Such is the case with 1076-1078 South Gaylord Street. In more recent years the building has been home to a sports outfitter, a jewelry store, and an art gallery. Going back to 1920, it was home to Braconier Mechanical & Plumbing Services, known for their expertise in working with older homes (including The Molly Brown House Museum). The very first occupants of this modest structure, however, were the Sihler family and their neighborhood bakery.

Philipp Sihler operated a bakery at 1089 South Pearl Street before hiring local builder Fred Scherer to construct this building for him in 1913. The first floor held the Washington Park Bakery, while the Sihler family, including Philipp, wife Kresentia, and young daughter Barbara, lived upstairs. A photograph provided by Pat Sihler, a descendent of Philipp, shows the family in front of the building with their bakery delivery truck. Streetcar tracks can be seen in the front of the photo on the then-dirt South Gaylord Street.

Sihler only operated the bakery for a few years before selling the building and business and moving to Jefferson County to farm. The bakery was operated by Horace and Louise Brays, and then Emil Wallstrom, before Braconier took over the building in 1920. In its early days, Braconier advertised their plumbing business by building benches out of pipes and placing them near streetcar stops for the use of weary travelers.