Jones Sporting Goods - 922 8TH AV

 Print Listing Historical Name - Mulford Building/Macy's Mortuary; Macy/Jones Building
Style - Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements/Commercial Style
Built Year - 1908
State ID - 5WL4120

Description - Two-story, rectangular, painted brick commercial building with flat roof stepped down toward rear and gable on rear wall. Façade has decorative arcaded cornice with molded brick, corbelling, and brackets. Upper story is banded and has two sets of paired 1/1-light double-hung sash windows with heavy rock-faced stone lintels and shared stone sills. First story remodeled and has large sign band and projecting metal hood. Inset central entrance with metal frame and glazed door surmounted by transom. Rolled awning. Large plate glass display windows; clerestory windows; rectangular window at original site of stairs to upper story. North wall is stuccoed and has segmental arched window. Rear wall has double-hung sash window and entrance on upper story facing metal stairs. First story has two center doors and two plate glass windows.

Historical Background - This building was erected in 1908 according to Weld County Assessor records. A 1961 newspaper article stated undertaker Thomas G. Macy moved to the "New Mulford Building" in 1908. Thomas G. "Cap" Macy established the oldest family mortuary in Colorado in Greeley in April 1886. Macy was born in Nantucket, RI, and joined the navy at the age of nine. He went to California during the gold rush, making a small fortune which he invested in a ship, which later burned. Macy fought with Union forces during the Civil War. In 1873 he moved to Greeley and farmed in the Pleasant Valley district. After grasshoppers destroyed his crops, he pursued a variety of jobs. His combination of experience as a carpenter and sexton at Linn Grove Cemetery led to his career as an undertaker. He served as Weld County Coroner in 1884. When he began his business in 1886, he and cabinetmaker John Irons made the caskets. Macy's mortuary remained at this site from 1908 until 1920; this was the third location of the mortuary. In 1919 Frederic J. Allnutt became a partner in the business. Allnutt moved to Greeley in 1898 to attend the State Normal School. He was employed at the mortuary to care for the horses and other jobs in exchange for his room and board, becoming a full-time employee when he graduated in 1901. In 1902 he married Macy's daughter, Anna. The mortuary moved to the corner of 9th Street and 8th Avenue in July 1920. The Greeley Booster reported that "the magnificent structure" at that location was built in 1919. Mr. Macy died in 1923 at age 88. In 1924 his grandson John became a partner in the business with his father, who died in 1948. Beginning in 1922, a Piggly-Wiggly store operated at this site, and a grocery store continued to be located here until 1944. In 1944 a realty office occupied the first story and sleeping rooms were on the upper story. In 1950 Welsh-Anderson Realty was housed here, with Greeley Tent and Awning on the upper story. Jones Sporting Goods occupied the building from the 1960s until the early 2000s.