Gordon-Mitchell House; Thompson House - 1329 11TH AV

 Print Listing Historical Name - Gordon-Mitchell House
Style - Late Victorian/Queen Anne
Built Year - mid 1890s
State ID - 5WL3743

Description - This Queen Anne style residence is an irregular-shaped, two story, wood frame structure with a wood shingled, hipped roof with intersecting gables. Roof features include decorative shingles on the gable ends. It has a concrete foundation with brick veneer and lap siding. The main facade contains an off-centered entrance. The wraparound porch has turned porch supports, decorative brackets, and a balustrade rail. It has picket fence-like facing and a frieze board covering where spindle work and cutout decoration was historically. Windows are wood frame and include one-over-one, multi-light fixed, a two story bay window, and a large stained glass window on the corner of the main facade. The brick chimney is located at the center of the hipped portion of the roof.

Historical Background - George Gordon built this house for his family in the mid-1890s. The Gordon family had moved to Greeley in 1888. The house is first listed in the 1898 city directory at 815 11th Street, with Gordon as the resident. Later directories listed George H. Gordon, co-owner of Ecker & Gordon contractors, as the resident, along with his family. Ecker and Gordon was a local company of contractors, builders and carpenters. George Gordon partnered with George W. Buckingham of Boulder to build the Buckingham-Gordon Building in downtown Greeley, located at 810-816 9th Street in 1907. He was retired by 1915 but continued to live at this house. He lived there with his wife Sophia until his death in the 1920s. Sophia Gordon continued to lived there with their son Frank until her death in 1936. She was born in Germany but came to America when she was four years old. She was an active member of the Presbyterian Church. Their daughter Carrie Gordon later married Dr. J. Coryell Scott. Carrie died in 1961. Son Frank Gordon lived in the house until his death in 1937, nine months after the death of his mother. He died from complications from pneumonia. He had graduated from Greeley High School in 1891 and worked in his father’s construction business. He served on the Chamber of Commerce and the City Zoning Commission. George, Sophia, and Frank Gordon and Carrie (Gordon) Scott are buried in Linn Grove Cemetery. From 1937 through 1946, a variety of people lived in the house, including M.S. Shackleford, an employee of Weld County Garage; D. Edgar Moore, a roofer and later employee of Colorado State College of Education (CSCE); and Chris Bunting, an employee of Safeway. The house was moved from 815 11th Street in 1947 to 1329 11th Avenue, its current location. In 1950, Wilbur A. E. Mitchell and his wife, Sylvia, are listed as residents of the house in the city directory. Wilbur A. E. Mitchell and Sylvia Louise Singer were married on December 13, 1930, in Villa Park, Illinois. After living in Chicago and Evanston, Illinois, the couple moved to Greeley in April of 1942. W. A. E. Mitchell was an attorney. In 1975, he formed the law firm of Mitchell and Knowlton with Frank Knowlton. He retired in 1987. Sylvia Mitchell, the first female licensed real estate agent in Greeley, worked as a realtor from 1956 until she retired in 1984. As listed in the city directory, she worked for OV Ruler Real Estate from 1956-58, Perry R.E. from 1959-60, Ramsey Realty from 1962-68, and Jayner-Sutherland Realty from 1969-84. The couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 1990. W. A. E. Mitchell, 91, died on November 11, 1993 at the Northern Colorado Medical Center. He was born on October 25, 1902, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. He graduated from Wheaton High School in Wheaton, Illinois in 1920, and he received his law degree from the University of Illinois in 1927. Mr. Mitchell was a member of the Weld County Fish and Wildlife Club, the Salvation Army Advisory Board of Greeley, Occidental Lodge No. 20 A.F.&A.M., the Greeley Shrine Club, and the First Christian Church. Sylvia Mitchell, 92, died on May 21, 1998 at Northern Colorado Medical Center. She was born on July 23, 1905 in Queen City, Missouri. She was also raised in Wheaton, Illinois and graduated from Wheaton High School. She graduated from John B. Stetson University in Florida with a degree in English. She served as a mother advisor for the Rainbow Club and was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and the Past Matron’s Club.