126 Lower D Street

Description

Real estate appraisal card. 126 Lower (or North) D Street, lots 1-3, block 3, in Salida, Colorado. This house was previously two separate houses, both of which dated to before 1886. The houses were addressed 126 and 130 N. D Street. The houses were joined together between 1890 and 1904. Joseph Warren Fisher lived here from 1903-4 until at least 1905-06. He worked as a clerk for D.A. Dupar, a mercantile company. Born in Wisconsin in 1844, Mr. Fisher died in February 1907. His wife found him dead in bed of heart failure. As a small child he had moved to Missouri. He had lived in Salida for 26 years by the time of his death. His obituary noted that he was a man closely identified with the growth of Salida and that he had been closely affiliated with various mercantile houses of the city for most of the time he had lived there. When he first arrived in Salida, he was a grain merchant. He had also been on the police force for many years and was described as a " fearless officer." He left behind a wife and a daughter at the time of his death. Also living here along with the Fishers in 1906 were five engineers: John Carr, Edward Greenman, and Charles Christensen, who worked at the Salida Smelter, Reuben W. Gutchall, and Frank Jewell. A conductor, Grant Kelker, also lived here in 1906. Harry E. and Huldah Long lived here in 1911-12. Mr. Long worked as a brakeman for D&RG. Harry was born in Illinois in 1882 and Huldah was born in Kansas in 1884. By 1913-14, Richard and Kezia Hughes lived here. They were both born in Wales, Richard in 1846 and Kezia in 1850, although they did not meet until they had both arrived in the U.S. Richard immigrated in 1866 and Kezia a year later, in 1867. They were married in Dover, New Jersey in 1870. They came to Colorado in 1879, where Richard worked as a coal miner in Coal Creek. The Hughes had six children, including one son, Tom Hughes, who became a star baseball pitcher for a Boston team. They moved to Salida in 1898 where Richard worked for D&RG railroad until he retired a few years before his death. Richard who was closely identified with the early history of the region, died in 1923, and was described as "one of Salida's most beloved citizens." Kezia died four years later in 1927, at which point she had lived in Salida for twenty-nine years. Joseph C. and Laura H. MacKeen lived here in 1931. Both of them were Canadian-English and became naturalized U.S. citizens in 1905. They married on 10 September 1910, in Leadville. Joseph MacKeen was born in 1887 and Laura MacKeen was born a year later, in Nova Scotia. The couple had three sons: George, Harold and Joe, and one daughter, Ruth, all of whom were born in Colorado. Joseph MacKeen died in August 1949 in a mining accident in Garfield, Colorado. Laura MacKeen died in March 1977. In 1951, this was the residence of Mrs. Cora E. Davis and Mrs. Betty Maxey (widow of Floyd). A Chaffee County Assessor appraisal card indicates that Jessie Marmet was a previous owner of this house, followed by John Marmet. H.R. Martinez, et al, were later owners. History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.