Current Projects
Find out about our current projects below. You can also learn about our Past Projects.
Klondike Mines Railway No. 4 Locomotive National Register Nomination
The South Park Rail Society has engaged Front Range to produce a National Register individual nomination for the Klondike Mines Railway No. 4 locomotive. Currently located at the Como Roundhouse in Como, Colorado, the 2-6-2 narrow gauge locomotive was manufactured in 1912 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for use by the Klondike Mines Railway in the Yukon Territory of Canada. During World War II, the locomotive operated in the Skagway area of Alaska Territory on the White Pass & Yukon Railway. Over the ensuing 105 years, No. 4 experienced several changes in ownership and followed a long and colorful journey before arriving in Como in 2017. The project is funded by the State Historical Fund.
Kirtley House National Register Nomination, Denver, Colorado
A National Register of Historic Places nomination has been prepared for the John and Nettie Kirtley House, which is significantly associated with Denver’s African American history. Prepared with the owner’s support, the nomination for the property in Berkeley will be considered by History Colorado’s Historic Preservation Review Board on January 19th. Front Range prepared the nomination as a pro bono project for Historic Berkeley Regis (HBR), our neighborhood historic preservation group.
HBR discovered the house’s ties to the neighborhood’s early Black community while researching previously untold and forgotten stories of the area’s diverse residents. Listing in the National Register will provide national recognition of the property’s importance, as well as qualifying the house for potential tax credits and grants. The Kirtley House was built in 1907 by African Americans John and Nettie Kirtley. John Kirtley operated a plastering business in Denver and likely participated in the dwelling’s construction and decoration. In March 1907 the Colorado Statesman (a Denver newspaper with a Black readership) reported that the Kirtleys had just completed “a 10-room press[ed] brick house with all modern improvements” on Vrain Street in North Denver.
Home ownership by African Americans in Denver in the early twentieth century was rare compared to Whites. The Kirtleys’ decision to build a house in an overwhelmingly White portion of northwest Denver comprised a bold early effort to live successfully in a location beyond the central and northeast areas of Denver where most Black people resided. At the time, there were no state or local laws mandating racial segregation, and Berkeley subdivisions did not have restrictive racial covenants. However, social pressures and White hostility circumscribed African American housing options within the city. Census returns showed only one Black resident in the Berkeley precinct in 1900 and only sixty-eight in all of the northwest corner of Denver in 1910.
The Kirtleys represented a small group of Black workers whose better than average jobs provided enough income to move to our then-developing neighborhood. While living on Vrain Street, John Kirtley continued his successful plastering business, and Nettie Kirtley operated a boarding house in their home. Taking in roomers or boarders was a common means for Black families to generate additional income and provide lodging for other African American people. However, it was a brave and unexpected undertaking in the middle of an overwhelmingly White neighborhood.
More broadly, the Kirtleys are illustrative of the African American diaspora from southern and border states following the Civil War. John Kirtley, born into slavery in Kentucky, was the son of former slave Benjamin Kirtley, a Civil War US Colored Troops infantry sergeant. Benjamin moved his family from Kentucky to Kansas about 1880, followed by John’s migration to Denver circa 1890. Despite a promising beginning for the enterprising family, a lawsuit resulting from John’s work led to the loss of the house. It is possible racial prejudice played a role in that outcome. In 1913 the resilient Kirtleys and their son moved still farther west to begin new lives in California, where John again operated a successful plastering business.
HBR discovered the house’s ties to the neighborhood’s early Black community while researching previously untold and forgotten stories of the area’s diverse residents. Listing in the National Register will provide national recognition of the property’s importance, as well as qualifying the house for potential tax credits and grants. The Kirtley House was built in 1907 by African Americans John and Nettie Kirtley. John Kirtley operated a plastering business in Denver and likely participated in the dwelling’s construction and decoration. In March 1907 the Colorado Statesman (a Denver newspaper with a Black readership) reported that the Kirtleys had just completed “a 10-room press[ed] brick house with all modern improvements” on Vrain Street in North Denver.
Home ownership by African Americans in Denver in the early twentieth century was rare compared to Whites. The Kirtleys’ decision to build a house in an overwhelmingly White portion of northwest Denver comprised a bold early effort to live successfully in a location beyond the central and northeast areas of Denver where most Black people resided. At the time, there were no state or local laws mandating racial segregation, and Berkeley subdivisions did not have restrictive racial covenants. However, social pressures and White hostility circumscribed African American housing options within the city. Census returns showed only one Black resident in the Berkeley precinct in 1900 and only sixty-eight in all of the northwest corner of Denver in 1910.
The Kirtleys represented a small group of Black workers whose better than average jobs provided enough income to move to our then-developing neighborhood. While living on Vrain Street, John Kirtley continued his successful plastering business, and Nettie Kirtley operated a boarding house in their home. Taking in roomers or boarders was a common means for Black families to generate additional income and provide lodging for other African American people. However, it was a brave and unexpected undertaking in the middle of an overwhelmingly White neighborhood.
More broadly, the Kirtleys are illustrative of the African American diaspora from southern and border states following the Civil War. John Kirtley, born into slavery in Kentucky, was the son of former slave Benjamin Kirtley, a Civil War US Colored Troops infantry sergeant. Benjamin moved his family from Kentucky to Kansas about 1880, followed by John’s migration to Denver circa 1890. Despite a promising beginning for the enterprising family, a lawsuit resulting from John’s work led to the loss of the house. It is possible racial prejudice played a role in that outcome. In 1913 the resilient Kirtleys and their son moved still farther west to begin new lives in California, where John again operated a successful plastering business.
Denver Chinatown Survey Plan
Front Range is preparing a survey plan for Denver's historic Chinatown for Colorado Asian Pacific United (CAPU). The plan will include a historical overview of the Chinese in Denver, describe previous documentation work, and recommend priorities for future survey work. The project focus on the area of the city's historic Chinatown, identified by CAPU in the map below. Some of the resources associated with the Chinese are no longer extant. The curretn status of others is unclear, including the Sing Chung & Company store (shown above) at 2019 Market Street (photograph, Denver Public Library). The project is funded by a State Historical Fund grant to CAPU.
Statewide African American Survey and Nomination Project
History Colorado Front Range contracted with Front Range to conduct a multi-year, multi-component, statewide project documenting resources associated with African American travel and recreation during the era of segregation. The effort follows up on a 2020-21 statewide survey plan completed by Front Range to identify such properties using The Green Book and other travel guides published for African Americans.
This project includes: public meetings; intensive survey of forty properties around the state; completion of a Multiple Property Documentation Form; and preparation of three individual National Register nominations. The survey includes commercial buildings, such as the one shown above in Denver's Five Points neighborhood, as well as motels, tourist homes, garages, and other resource types. Most properties are located in Denver, Pueblo, and Colorado Springs, but resources are also included throughout Colorado, from Brush to Montrose and Granby to Lamar. The project is funded by an Underrepresented Communities Grant from the National Park Service.
This project includes: public meetings; intensive survey of forty properties around the state; completion of a Multiple Property Documentation Form; and preparation of three individual National Register nominations. The survey includes commercial buildings, such as the one shown above in Denver's Five Points neighborhood, as well as motels, tourist homes, garages, and other resource types. Most properties are located in Denver, Pueblo, and Colorado Springs, but resources are also included throughout Colorado, from Brush to Montrose and Granby to Lamar. The project is funded by an Underrepresented Communities Grant from the National Park Service.
Hegner House Denver Landmark Application
Front Range completed a National Register individual nomination for the Hegner House in 2022-23. After its listing in early 2023, the owners tasked Front Range to prepare a Denver local landmark application. Individual landmark status will provide the property with protection against demolition not available with National Register listing. Designed by Denver architect Casper F. Hegner, the 1935 East Washington dwelling was the first International-style house in the Mile High City and perhaps the first in the state of Colorado. Hegner (1909-1991) designed the house for his own family and lived here until 1962.