The Crawford Building, 1439 Larimer #26
Dana Crawford Building, 1437-1439 Larimer Street
The Second Empire Style building sporting the Larimer Square founder’s name is located at 1439 Larimer. The Crawford building, sitting mid-block on the northeast side of the square is not a large building but the most decorative on the block. It was built in 1875.
According to Tom Noel’s Larimer Street book, it was dry goods store, a furniture store, second hand goods store and a harness shop. A 1960’s photo, pre-Larimer Square, shows a large sign at the roof promoting “LEATHER”. Originally on other side of the street, Poor Richard’s leather store eventually occupied this space. An old Larimer Square brochure also lists a store named El Galeon, Imports from Mexico and South at this location.
The 1920-22 Colorado Bureau of Mines Annual Report lists 1439 Larimer as the offices of the Social Six Mining Company. The Social Six was a property of the Calvin & Remington gold-silver claims near Idaho Springs, Clear Creek County.
Now the building is the John Fluevog shoe store. Fluevog is a successful Canadian shoe designer that has 16 stores across the U.S. and Canada. His unique style of shoes have a cult following. It appears Denver is quite lucky to have one of his stores.
There is no need to rewrite the book about Dana Crawford, here. I was fortunate to met her recently and was impressed with her warm humor, friendly smile and twinkle in her eye. She was giving a presentation on her next project, downtown Trinidad.
Here is another picture of the Crawford building from David Eitemiller’s book on Denver Tours. The style is also described as Victorian. Notice the door to the right leading upstairs. These entry doors have there own address assigned. This one is listed as 1439 Larimer. The old address system lists the main entrance as 349 Larimer street.
I was really hoping to find more about the Social Six Mine but couldn’t find much. I suspect it wasn’t a big producer, but the name is interesting. What I did notice on the same page in the journal that lists the Social Six Mine was the Smuggler-Union Mine. This mine, near Telluride, has a rich history. Its story is full of labor wars, murder, mine explosions, avalanches and the anti-labor Englishmen Arthur L. Collins. When Arthur Collins was killed in 1902 by a shot-gun blast, a familiar personality from Denver’s Capital Hill, Bulkeley Wells, took over as the mine’s general manager. The story of the Smuggler-Union Mine is a real Colorado story. I’ll put that on the to-do list.
Any additions, comments or corrections are welcomes.
Thanks, JOE S
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