Globeville is like an archaeological site. Almost every structure has layers of history buried underneath it, and Sam’s Vintage Ford Parts on 5101 Washington St. is one example.
A portion of the building uses a remnant of the old Globeville School. This story goes back to the very beginnings of the town. The Globe Smelter, incorporated in 1889, provided some housing for its workers.
The Globe Hotel on Washington Street had rooms for single men, with a communal dining hall on the second floor. There were also 10 company houses for families on a cul-de-sac on 53rd Avenue and Washington Street known as Sheedy Row. The smelter donated land for a school at 51st and Washington, a benevolent gesture to the community since many of the students were the children of smelter employees.
A few of the teachers were Olga Clark, Ethel Glasgow, Kate Connelly, Mrs. Sibley, Margaret Smith, Ethel Boge and Florence Taylor. The town of Globeville was incorporated in July 1891 and the town council held its meetings in the new building.
School board assemblies in the school were lively affairs with business discussions, refreshments and entertainment. The schoolhouse also served as a polling place during elections.
The May 23, 1897, edition of the Rocky Mountain News enthusiastically reported, “The closing exercises of the Globeville School were held Friday afternoon. All the children, parents and friends were assembled in one room. The duet, ‘Oh, Mister Postman, Wait,’ was sung by the little Misses Leona Clark and Mary Kluborg. Little Freddie Horn, the beautiful boy soprano singer, was the admiration of all. Miss Cannon, conducted the exercises The Globe Smelter had provided the land for the school, but was not always a responsible neighbor.”
A November 18, 1904 edition of the Denver Times contained a headline “Schoolhouse Is Almost Wrecked” and continued, “Globeville Institution Showered With Rocks From Blasts in Slag Pile.”
It seems that some workers from the Globe Smelter were blasting a slag pile north of the schoolhouse at 3 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. The roar of dynamite could be heard throughout the community and anxious parents hurried to the site.
Every window on the north side of the building was broken, and there was substantial damage to the roof and the foundation. The school’s 300 pupils had been dismissed an hour earlier, averting a complete disaster.
The smelter paid for repairs to the school, but the building was never the same. By 1923, the structure was declared unsafe and students transferred to Garden Place School. In 1925, the top floor was removed and the school was rented to Charles Pattrick for his hardware store.
By 1931, the Barr Lumber Company was using the building for its office and the grounds for lumber. The family-owned Sam’s Vintage Ford Parts has occupied the corner for nearly thirty years.
Mary Lou Egan is a fourth-generation Coloradan who loves history. You can reach her at maryloudesign@comcast.net.