Spanish Films and Clothing - 900 8TH AV

 Print Listing Historical Name - Dr. Jesse Hawes Residence
Style - No Style
Built Year - 1885
State ID - 5WL4111

Description - This resource consists of a 19th century house surrounded by 20th century storefront additions. The house is difficult to see behind the additions. Two-story painted brick house with painted tooled stone foundation surrounded on three sides by one-story commercial additions. House has hipped roof with central deck. Composition roofing; widely overhanging eaves; wide frieze board. Hipped roof semi-octagonal turret on north has tiny triangular window at apex. Gable on north has round window at apex. Tall double-hung sash windows with flat hood molds on north wall. Bay window on north has hipped roof and 1/1-light double-hung sash windows with arched hood molds. Gable on west also has round window at apex. Slightly projecting bay on front has arched hood mold, rectangular panel of decorative brick, and two tall, narrow windows. Two segmental arched tall, narrow windows on first story of east wall (rear) and one on second story. First story has one flat arched window and second story has one tall and two shorter flat arched windows. One-story brick commercial addition on north and west walls extending to part of east wall. Separate commercial building abuts south wall of house. Storefront addition on north and west walls is one-story, with lower wall with horizontal lap board siding. Plate glass display windows. Plywood panels above display windows and cornice clad with vertical ridged band. Store has angled corner entrance on northwest with double metal frame glazed doors topped by transom. South of this one-story storefront with vertical panel siding along roof, painted brick upper wall, and fabric awning sheltering two large display windows. Brick under windows. Off-center metal frame glazed door with transom. Slightly lower, flat roof commercial addition on north wall has four narrow storefronts. T111 siding at top of walls, which are painted brick. Storefront furthest west (728) has an off-center entrance with door with rectangular light surmounted by a covered up transom and overdoor. West of entrance is a large plate glass window surmounted by covered up clerestory windows. Next storefront to east (726) has an off-center entrance with aluminum frame glazed door with covered up transom surmounted by six-light overdoor. East of this is a two-part display window with large plate glass windows with divided clerestory windows. East of this is 724 ½, which has an off-center entrance with door with large rectangular light and boarded up transom and overdoor. Adjacent to the entrance is a plate glass window. Final storefront (724) has an off-center aluminum frame glazed door with a display window covered with plywood and paneling. East wall has two boarded up rectangular windows with brick sills. South wall has two doors at west end and a covered up window on east end.

Historical Background - This residence of Dr. Jesse Hawes is pictured in a sketch in David Boyd’s 1890 book on Greeley and the Union Colony. The book provides a summary of Hawes life, describing him as a “man of true grit and determination.” Hawes was a veteran of the Civil War who was taken prisoner by the Confederate army and escaped. At the end of the war he studied medicine. He moved to Greeley in 1872; his sister, Mrs. W.F. Thompson, had settled in the colony previously. Dr. Hawes was appointed a director of the State Normal School. Hawes practiced medicine in Greeley from 1872 to 1901. A Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory form indicates that this house was built in 1885 for Dr. Hawes and that the builder was Robert Hall. The form quotes an unidentified newspaper article: “At last the plans for Dr. Hawes’ new house on the corner of 8th Avenue and 9th Street have been perfected and the contract let to Robert Hall. Mr. Callaghan is to do the brick work and Mr. Ross put in the cellar and stone foundations. The general style of the house is a sort of composite between Swiss and Renaissance, with steep crested roofs, large windows decorated with cathedral glass. The building will be two-stories high with a commodious basement.” The article went on to describe the rooms of the house in detail, including two office rooms for the doctor at the front. City directories indicate that during 1908-10 Sanborn and Houston occupied the northwest storefront, the first constructed, while the house remained a residence (occupied by Dr. Woodcock). Sanborn & Houston was the oldest real estate and insurance firm in Greeley. The company’s roots extended to the founding of the Union Colony in 1870, when Civil War veteran John F. Sanborn arrived in the settlement. In November 1870 the Greeley Tribune advertised “J.F. Sanborn, Fire & Life Insurance Agent.” J.F. Sanborn died in 1876 and his son, Burton D. Sanborn, took over the insurance and real estate business. Sanborn was later joined in his agency by George M. Houston, who worked as a bookkeeper and insurance representative and later married Sanborn’s daughter. Houston eventually became manager of the office. He served as mayor of Greeley (1909-10) and president of the Normal School Board (1909-15). The company moved to 906 8th Avenue by 1913. The 1913 city directory indicates that Seely-Fournier Drug Company occupied the northwest storefront, and the Weld County Savings Bank was also in the building. In 1915-1922 Epplen’s Drug Store was housed here. In 1926-1950 the Greeley Drug Company occupied the building. By 1960 this was the site of the Empire Savings Building and Loan Association, which was still shown here in 1970.