National Register of Historic Places

Atwater, Samuel H., House

Canon City, Fremont County, Colorado
Listed
March 7, 1996
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
96000241

About this property

The Samuel H. Atwater House, at 821 Macon Ave. in Cañon City, Colorado, was built around 1890 and its porches and exterior were substantially modified in 1908. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. It was designed and built in Queen Anne style in 1890. Queen Anne style does include asymmetrical massing as a basic feature, but the result here was generally assessed as aethetically unappealing. The decision to use a square tower (rather than a round tower, far more common in Queen Anne style) and other factors were blamed: it was noted that the original small side and front porches with delicate supports and spindlework, in combination with the "massive size of the square corner tower...gave the structure an awkward, unbalanced appearance." The house was deemed significant for NRHP listing for its architecture, and also "for its association with Samuel Henry Atwater, one of the early developers of Cañon City who not only bought and sold land for residential development but was a key individual in the planning and construction of community infrastructure. Atwater platted the Orchard Park sub-division and the Atwater South Cañon Addition to Cañon City; bought two large area nurseries to supply new residents in his communities with appropriate growing stock; purchased water rights on Four Mile Creek to insure a dependable water supply for Orchard Park and the South Cañon addition; and spearheaded the funding drive which culminated in the construction of the National Register listed First Presbyterian Church." Per History Colorado, "This 1890 house is associated with Samuel H. Atwater, an early developer of Cañon City, who not only bought and sold land for residential development but was a key individual in the planning and construction of community infrastructure." Subsequent history includes that after Atwater and his family's occupation of the house until 1909, that William H. Dozier, an officer of the First National Bank, bought the house sometime before the Great War. Later, from the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s, Guy Hardy, owner and editor of the Cañon City Daily Record possessed the home as an investment. At some point the house was renovated to become a rooming house, and " pparently, 15 layers of wallpaper were removed from the dining room walls." In 1965, City Engineer Carl Babberger and his wife Enid purchased the house.

Location

821 Macon Ave.
Canon City, Fremont County, Colorado
38.44337, -105.23729

Categories

COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENTARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Canon City Downtown Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Industrial
0 mi
First Presbyterian Church
Industrial
0.1 mi
Christ Episcopal Church
Industrial
0.1 mi
Canon City Downtown Historic District
Listed
0.1 mi
US Post Office and Federal Building-Canon City Main
Early Republic
0.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Atwater, Samuel H., House listed on the National Register?

Atwater, Samuel H., House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 7, 1996.

What type of historic resource is Atwater, Samuel H., House?

Atwater, Samuel H., House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Atwater, Samuel H., House?

The period of significance for Atwater, Samuel H., House is recorded as the industrial era.

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