I am an historic researcher looking for information on William Lang, the architect who is said to have built that big house on Gumaer Ave in Florence. Some years ago I made a concerted effort to find the house reported in the Rocky Mountain News in 1896. I was unsuccessful. Do you have any information. Was the house built in 1896 as reported. If so are there any pictures? Thanks for your help.
"William Lang built at Florence, a residence of unique design for A.R. Gumaer. The house is not entirely completed, as several elaborate decorations are now being designed by Mr. Lang. The house is after a Japanese design and is a mansion in proportions. It is 80x90? feet on the ground floor. It will be two stories high with a basement. The first story will be of white stone and above that to the roof shingles in fancy designs will remind one of the Orient. The roof will be of red tile in designs. The cornice around the edge of the roof will be of copper. The interior will be wholly finished in mahogany. Altogether the residence will be one of the finest in the state. It will cost $25000 but much more than that will be spent before the owner carries out all his plans for the interior." RMN 1 Jan 1896. This building may still exist as a funeral parlor.
The building is now the Charles Anthony Funeral Home owned by the brothers Charles J Giebler and Anthony S Wright. Wright gave me a tour 13 May 02. The building never had more than one story. It has a white sandstone foundation and sandstone chimneys. There is a portico under which one can drive a carriage (or car) which also has the base and ornament made of sandstone. The current owners assure me that there is no sandstone in the walls, only wood. The wall thickness confirms this. At least part of the basement, the meat locker, has sandstone walls. One of the rooms was the "Oriental Room," a name confirmed on the Denver Novelty Works Annunciator, Patent 30 January 1894, which is still there. There is an iron fence marked Denver Iron Works 1909. One might guess that only the foundation was built and then he ran out of money??? Perhaps something happened to the building and it was rebuilt in a different form, as the footprint on Sanborn changed between 1900 and 1912. Perhaps, RMN not withstanding, it never was built. McGinn and Fisher note that there is a nearly identical building built for Gumaer's niece on the Trinity Ranch 8 miles outside of town on the way to Wetmore.
Note that in 1893 Gumaer lived in a Lang designed house at 1120 Grant which became the home of Maxy Tabor, 93direct: Gumaer, Augustus R, genl agt Florence Oil & Refining Co 1120 Grant av, 602 Boston Bldg.
Carol Fox is the local historian (719 784 3787 503 E Third, Florence 81226). She notes that the Gumaer Mansion never was a 2 story building and doesn't look Japanese to her. The Gumaer mansion became a club house for Union Oil Co, the successor to Florence Oil Co. Union Oil bought Florence Oil in 1917. According to the Florence Daily Citizen 14 April 1926 p 4, WP Wilbar bought the oil company, the club house and its furnishings and moved in. It was subsequently purchased by Charles & Anthony to be a funeral home (719 784 0832).
Dean MacKinnon's wife says that there is a Japanese appearing mansion at Second and Petroleum, but Carol Fox says no. Others have noted Japanese style buildings, but I couldn't find any. They have photographed the buildings and sent the photos.
The local history section of the Canon City Library (516 Macon ave, 719 269 9036, M 9-7, T-F 9:30-5 ?10-2 Sat) has a list of local architects. Contact is Sue or Cara Fisher. Cara has strokes and retired. LaDonna and Sue helped on 13 May 2002. They say to come in and look, but they have no record of Lang. Note that the Florence Refiner was a booster paper in 1896 or so.
Gumaer was quite a character and deserves a biography on his own. He was a grocer before he came to Colorado. He arrived in Canon City in 1881 as cashier of Ira Mulock's Bank. He had married Ella in 1874 before arriving. When the bank failed, he formed the Boston Land and Cattle Co in 1892. In 1893 he formed the Florence Improvement Co. He formed the Cotopaxi Mining and Milling Co, and it is interesting that he maintained a suite at the Brown Palace and was listed as having a Lang designed residence in 1893 in Denver. By the time he died in the Red Cross Hospital in Salida under the care of Dr FN Cochems on 13 October 1916 his life had unraveled. His niece came to visit and he fell for her. His wife moved back East contemplating divorce. He duplicated his residence at the Trinity Ranch so that his niece would have an appropriate place to stay. He was loaded with debts and saddled with expensive litigation. When his wife returned to Florence to bury him, instead of an inheritance she found barely enough money to pay for the funeral.
References:
See also file from J MacKinnon
McGinn, Elinor M, Fisher, Cara, If walls could speak, Fremont-Custer Historical Society 1984. Describes the house at 225 E Main noting that it was built in 1894 and that there is a duplicate on the Trinity ranch.
Maps
Sanborn 1912 227 Main St has the current footprint
Sanborn 1895 doesn't include that lot
Sanborn 1900 227 Main St has a smaller footprint with a square structure with a protrusion from the rear that I don't recognize on the ground
Sanborn 1906 doesn't include that lot
WC Willets map 1897 building not portrayed
Campbell, Rosemae Wells, From trappers to tourists, Fremont County 1830-1950, Published by the author 1972.
Canon City Library Files:
Lange family file-unrelated
Architects file-no help
Chamber of Commerce, Florence and Environs published about 1906-no help
Florence City Directories
1902 (handwritten copy: Gumaer, AR (Ella L) Treasurer and general manager, Florence Oil and Refining Co res 301 Main (an address that never existed as far as I can tell)
1905-6 Thomas & Gordon, Tribune Publishing Co, Florence: Gumaer, AR (Ella L) Treasurer and general manager, Florence Oil Co, res 225 E Main
1906-7 Florence City and Fremont County Directory, Thomas, Gordon & Hutchinson, Publishers, Florence: Gumaer AR (Ella L) General manager and Treasurer, Florence Oil Co res 225 E Main
No other directories available.
Canon City Clipper 25 Jan 1897 probably worth checking
To do
Look for Gumaer in the general index at DPL. Any other information on his houses or a fire or rebuild
See if there are any more Sanborn maps of Florence.
Canon City Clipper 25 Jan 1897 probably worth checking