Real estate appraisal card. 234 E. 2nd Street, lots 21 & 22, block 23, in Salida, Colorado.
This house was built between 1898 and 1904. The city directory of 1905-06, when John G., Blossom G., and Mamie Nash lived here. Mr. Nash was born in 1845 in Ireland and was a laborer for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. He was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen for 25 years. He died of pneumonia in April 1915, after residing in Salida for 15 years. The Salida Mail described him as "popular with his fellow workmen and neighbors." Blossom Nash worked as a teacher at the high school. The Nash family was living elsewhere by 1911-12.
By 1922 and into at least the 1930s, George A. and Alice Shirk lived here. The Shirks had three sons (Harold H., George B., and Lyle C.) and two daughters (Cleo and Dorothy). Mr. Shirk worked as a railroad engineer. He was born about 1872 in Kansas and had served as a private in the Nebraska infantry during the Spanish American War. Mrs. Shirk was born and raised in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania in 1871. Mrs. Shirk had been ill for many years before passing away at the age of 64, in December 1935. Mr. Shirk died in Grand Junction in February 1962. He was a resident of Salida for more than 60 years before moving to Grand Junction.
In 1951, Barbara Bennett, a school teacher in Roswell, New Mexico, lived here. In 1965, Albert D. and Alta L. Eggleston lived here. The Egglestons were retired. An old Assessor appraisal card indicated that Frank A. and Claire Cicerelli once owned this property.
History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.
