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Marvin House -
918 14TH ST
 Print Listing
Historical Name -
Thompson House
Style -
Late Victorian/Queen Anne
Built Year -
1921
State ID -
5WLXXX7
Description -
This vernacular Queen Anne style residence is an irregular-shaped, one-and-one-half story, wood frame structure with a wood shingle side-gabled roof. Roof features include a large, central, gabled dormer on the front elevation and eave returns. It has a rusticated cinder block foundation and lapped siding and fishscale shingles on the dormer and gable ends. The main façade contains a centered entrance. The one-story partial width cut-away porch has decorative turned spindles and posts and a balustrade rail. Windows are one-over-one double hung, including two bay windows, a Palladian window in the front dormer and a stained glass Queen Anne window on the main elevation east of the entrance.
Historical Background -
Located on 14th Street between the Meeker Home Museum and the Glazier House, this home was associated with the James K. and Emma Scott Thompson family. J.K. Thompson was the son of the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Greeley. He contributed to the church in his own right by helping to build the original church. He also served as clerk of the session for over thirty-nine years. Session minutes state, "To [J.K. Thompson] perhaps more than to any one other man is due the existence of the First Presbyterian Church in Greeley." According to Boyd's History of Greeley and the Union Colony, Thompson operated the second largest lumber and materials business in Greeley although City Directories simply label him as a "capitalist."
Research strongly indicates, but does not prove, that the home at 918 14th Street was moved from a location near the old Presbyterian church on 10th Street. City Directories show that the Thompsons lived at 825 10th Street from 1901 until Mr. Thompson's death in 1920. The 1922 directory shows his widow Emma living at the new location. This small new lot was subdivided from her son's property. Sanborn Fire Insurance maps reveal that the "footprint" and height of Emma's home at 918 14th Street is nearly identical to her former residence, indicating that it might be the same structure. Moreover, the First Presbyterians, with whom the Thompson's were intimately associated, built a new church in 1920. This church was located on the corner of 14th Street and 9th Avenue, across the street from Emma's new location. It is possible that Emma or her son arranged to move the house to the new location after James' death so that she might be close to her family and church. The fact that the architectural style of the 918 house predates the surrounding homes on the same block reinforces this theory. However, no reference to the move could be found in public documents, church records, photographs or newspaper articles.
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