A HISTORY OF 1712 NORTH TEJON ST

A HISTORY OF 1712 NORTH TEJON STREET

in the OLD NORTH END NEIGHBORHOOD

in COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO

Robert D. Loevy

The Victorian house at 1712 North Tejon Street has been the Colorado Springs home of typical members of the American middle class. Its residents have included the part owner of a downtown laundry, the president of a mining company, a lawyer, a dentist, a motor-vehicle dealer, a newspaper editor, a District Court judge, an insurance company executive, and a college professor. One baby was born to a family living in the home. At least 15 children were raised in the house, and two of those children were married there.

CONSTRUCTION HISTORY

The first warranty deed for 1712 North Tejon Street was issued on March 17, 1900, to Susan Murray (Book 311, p. 383).

The Colorado Springs City Directory (street directory) that year listed a Susan Murray who was the widow of Hugh Murray. At the time she owned the property at 1712 North Tejon Street, she was living in a boarding house at 614 South Nevada Avenue. By 1903 she had moved to a boarding house at 621 East Boulder Street.

Susan Murray sold the property five months later to J. W. Glackin (Book 316, p. 349).

If one assumes that was James W. Glackin, he was a notable citizen of Colorado Springs. Shortly after he purchased the property at 1712 North Tejon Street, he was listed in the street directory as living at 2112 North Nevada Avenue. He served as the superintendent of Evergreen Cemetery, which was owned and operated by the City of Colorado Springs, from April 24, 1905, to December of 1939, a span of almost 35 years. In 1917, management of Fairmount Cemetery on the city’s west side was added to his duties.

Glackin resigned as superintendent of Colorado Springs cemeteries in 1939 because of ill health (Gazette, December 10, 1939, p. 1). He passed away in September of 1941. There was a funeral service at Corpus Christi church on North Cascade Avenue, with a Rosary at the Law funeral establishment and burial in Evergreen Cemetery (Gazette, September 3, 1941, p. 5).

J. W. Glackin owned the property at 1712 North Tejon Street for only one year and seven months. He sold or transferred the property to Mary A. Wineman on November 12, 1901 (Book 333, p. 477).

A Mary Adella Wineman was living in Colorado Springs at that time and appears to have been engaged in the real estate business and land speculation. A business magazine noted in 1900 that she purchased two lots on the north side of Colorado Springs (lots 9 and 10, block B. Edwards’ addition) near the corner of North Nevada Avenue and East Espanola Street (Facts, Volume 7, November 24, 1900, p. 25).

Mary Wineman also moved frequently from one north side house to another. The street directory listed her as living at 1814 N. Tejon Street in 1900, 1800 North Tejon in 1901, and 1804 North Tejon in 1902 and 1903. She was living at 1804 North Tejon Street at the time she owned the property at 1712 North Tejon Street.

It was while Mary Wineman was the owner that a water tap was issued for 1712 North Tejon Street. The date was December 27, 1901, only one month and half after Mary Wineman acquired the property. This could have been the time at which the house was constructed on the property, although it is possible the house was built at an earlier date and serviced by well water until the water tap was issued.

On February 27, 1903, Mary Wineman sold 1712 North Tejon Street to Mary E. Crowley (Book 359, p. 260).

NEWMAN AND MARY CROWLEY - 1903 TO 1908

The Colorado Springs street directory listed no residents at 1712 North Tejon Street for the years prior to 1903. In that year, however, the house was listed for the first time. Newman C. Crowley and his wife, Mary E. Crowley, were designated the first occupants of the property. This suggests the house probably was built in 1902 while Mary Wineman, who secured the water tap, was the owner of the property.

Newman and Mary Crowley were identified in the street directory as having no children living with them.

Newman Crowley apparently came to Colorado Springs to join a family member, E. P. Crowley, in owning and operating the Star Laundry at 115 North Tejon Street. The laundry ran short advertisements in the City Directory. In 1905 the advertisement read: “Lace Curtains And Navaho Blankets Made To Look Like New.” From 1906 to 1908 the advertisement read: “First Class Work And Prompt Delivery Our Motto.”

The Crowleys remained at 1712 North Tejon Street until 1908, when they moved to 1314 North Tejon Street. The Crowleys were still listed as living at 1314 North Tejon Street as late as 1917.

Newman Crowley passed away in October of 1919 at the age of 56. His funeral was held at the First Methodist church, where he was a member of the official board of the church. His wife and daughter, Elizabeth Crowley, took his body back to “the old home” in Galva, Ohio, for burial (Colorado Springs Gazette, October 7, 1919, p. A4).

WILLIAM F. AND ORISSA LITTELL - 1909 TO 1911

The second residents of 1712 North Tejon Street were W. F. Littell and Orissa M. Littell. They had two children living with them. One was Effie E. Littell. The other was Lola A. Littell, who was listed as a “student.” While living in the house, Mrs. Littell gave birth to a daughter. The first name of the new baby was not printed in the newspaper (Colorado Springs Gazette, February 26, 1911, p. 17).

W. F. Littell was the president of two mining companies, Littell Brothers Mining and Littell Mining. The 1912 street directory listed the mining companies as “removed to Pueblo, Colorado.” Apparently the Littell family left Colorado Springs along with the mining companies, because the family name in not found in the street directory after 1911.

W. F. and Orissa Littell could have rented rather than owned the house at 1712 North Tejon Street. There was no record found that the property was ever legally transferred from Mary E. Crowley to the Littells.

EDWARD AND MABEL ROBINETT - 1912 TO 1917

The home next was owned by Mabel Robinett, who was married to Edward K. Robinett. (Book 492, p. 480). They had no children listed as living with them. Edward Robinett was a downtown attorney with the firm of Orr, Robinett, and Mason. The law offices were located at 500 Exchange National Bank Building.

On January 24, 1918, the Robinetts sold the home to W. Roy McAlister (Book 572, p. 479).

W. ROY AND GRACE McALISTER - 1918 TO 1920

According to the city street directory, W. Roy McAlister and his wife Grace lived in the house from 1918 to 1920.The street directory identified Roy McAlister as a miner.

EDWIN AND FLORENCE BACKUS - 1920 TO 1923

By 1921 the residents of 1712 North Tejon Street were Edwin I. and Florence M. Backus. There were no children listed. Rooming with Edwin and Florence Backus was Mary Backus, the widow of Harvey R. Backus.

Edwin Backus was a dentist. His office was at 700 Exchange National Bank Building.

ALANSON M. AND LOUISA VIRDEN - 1924

The Reverend Alanson M. and Louisa VirDen were listed as living in the house, but only during the year 1924.

JAMES AND FRANCES JARRETT - 1925 TO 1927

By 1925, James C. Jarrett and Frances B. Jarrett were living in the house. No children were listed. James Jarrett was the president of an automobile and truck dealership named Jarrett Motor And Finance, located at 705 Conejos Street. In subsequent years the company moved to 933 W. Vermijo Street and then to South 10^th Street. The 1928 city street directory listed the company as manufacturers of Jarrett Motor Trucks.

The Jarretts were last listed as living at 1712 North Tejon Street in 1927. They subsequently moved to 1931 North Tejon Street and then to 1627 North Weber Street.

Tragedy struck the Jarrett family in 1935 when a son, James C. Jarrett, Jr., died of a mysterious paralytic malady at the age of 14. He apparently shared his father’s interest in motor vehicles, because “he designed the plans for an internal combustion engine that experience automotive men declared not only feasible but an improvement over the latest engines.” The younger Jarrett was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Young Men’s Christian Association.

The obituary for the younger Jarrett, James C. Jarrett, Jr., listed a brother, Alf W. Jarrett, and a sister, Mary Francis Jarrett. The three children probably were living at 1712 North Tejon Street when their parents were living there (Colorado Springs Gazette, January 2, 1935, p. 1).

Their father, James C. Jarrett, passed away in mid-August of 1948. He was listed as a retired truck manufacturer living at 1324 N. Wahsatch Avenue. The funeral was at First Methodist Church with burial in Evergreen Cemetery. His obituary listed him as a former-chairman of the El Paso County Democratic Party and “chairman of the infantile paralysis committee here most of the time since it was founded (“J. C. Jarrett Services At 10:30 A.M. Wednesday,” Colorado Springs Gazette, August 17, 1948, p. 15).”

VACANT - 1928 TO 1930

The Colorado Springs City Directory listed 1712 North Tejon Street as "Vacant" in the years 1928, 1929, and 1930.

DANIEL AND ELLA M. MORRIS - 1931

Daniel Morris, a lumberman, lived in the house with his wife Ella in 1931.

JACK F. AND OPAL W. LAWSON - 1932 TO 1950

Prior to 1932, Jack and Opal Lawson were living at 910 E. Boulder Street in Colorado Springs. According to their daughter Jacqueline, in 1932 the Lawsons traded their house on Boulder Street for the much larger home at 1712 North Tejon Street (author interview with Jacqueline Rose [Lawson] Conwill).

Jack F. Lawson was born in Niagara Falls, New York. He was a newspaper editor who began his career with the New York News and the New York World. He next worked for the Kansas City Star. Around 1913 he went to work for the Colorado Springs Gazette. He advanced to city editor, a position which he held for 13 years from 1923 to 1936.

In 1929, Jack Lawson began teaching two journalism courses at Colorado College. Journalism previously had been taught sporadically at the college by a multiplicity of local journalistic writers. Jack Lawson brought permanence to the endeavor. He taught those same two journalism courses at Colorado College over a span of 19 years until his retirement in 1948.

The catalog descriptions for the two journalism courses that Jack Lawson taught at Colorado College did not change over the almost two decades he taught them. Listed under Journalism in the School of Letters and Fine Arts, the course descriptions suggested that Jack Lawson brought to his classes the workaday experience of a veteran newspaperman:

301 and 302 FUNDAMENTALS OF JOURNALISM

History of Journalism; organization of the news, editorial and business departments; practice of news gathering, writing, and editing; value of news; attainment of a clear, forceful, and entertaining style of writing.

LAWSON.

401 AND 402 MODERN JOURNALISM

Function and aim of the newspaper; covering news; feature writing and special articles; sound journalism as opposed to sensational; mechanical age in newspaper manufacture; methods of collecting news, national and world; chain newspapers; syndicates; development of style; desk and editorial work. Prerequisite, Journalism 301 and 302. LAWSON

In 1936, Jack Lawson left his job as city editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette. Shortly thereafter he was appointed the first full-time director of public relations at Colorado College. Despite the responsibilities of his new position, he continued to teach his two journalism courses every academic year (Colorado College Catalog, 1937, pp. 14, 69-70).

In 1938, the students of Colorado College demonstrated their high regard for Jack Lawson’s role in the life of the campus by dedicating the college yearbook, The 1938 Nugget, to him. The frontispiece of the yearbook contained Jack Lawson’s photograph and the following tribute:

Dedication

TO JACK F. LAWSON, “THE

MAN BEHIND THE SCENE” IN

ALL PUBLICATIONS OF COLO-

RADO COLLEGE, WHO HAS EX-

EMPLIFIED ALL THE IDEALS OF

OUR SCHOOL, ENCOURAGED

US WHEN WE WERE LAGGING,

PRAISED US WHEN WE WERE

SUCCEEDING, ALWAYS TAKEN

OUR INTERESTS TO HEART,

MADE OUR TASKS SEEM

EASIER, WE DEDICATE THIS

1938 NUGGET

JACK F. LAWSON – This photograph

is from The 1938 Nugget.

Jack F. Lawson and Opal W. Mills were both living in Colorado Springs at the time of their marriage. Their marriage license was issued on July 14, 1916 (“Marriage Licenses Issued,” El Paso County Democrat, July 21, 1916). Opal Moss Lawson loved flowers and surrounded the home at 1712 North Tejon Street with lovely flower beds. The Lawsons had two daughters, Dorothy and Jacqueline. Both of the young women went to Colorado College while their father was Director of Public Relations and teaching there.

Dorothy May Lawson graduated from Colorado College in 1938. She appeared to be following in her father’s footsteps, because she held the post of Managing Editor, the top editorial position, on the Colorado College Tiger, the student newspaper. She also served as Secretary of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Press Association, an organization of college newspapers throughout the Rocky Mountain region.

Dorothy May Lawson joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at Colorado College and was President of the History Club. She also was a member of the Tiger Club, the “pep” club for supporting sports teams at Colorado College. In her senior year she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, a top academic honor at Colorado College.

According to the Colorado Springs street directory, Dorothy May Lawson was working as a teacher at North Junior High School in Colorado Springs in 1940. The following year she was teaching at Whittier Elementary School in Colorado Springs.

DOROTHY MAY LAWSON –

This photograph is from The

1938 Nugget.

Jacqueline Rose Lawson graduated from Colorado College in 1944. She was a Sociology major and, similar to her sister, joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and the Tiger Club, the “pep”club. She also participated in Koshare, which did student dramatic productions. She was a member of the Women’s Athletic Association, which supported female sports teams. She joined her sister in being elected to Phi Beta Kappa her senior year.

Jacqueline attended Colorado College during World War Two, a challenging time in the history of the college. Most of the male students were in the military service, taking officer-training courses at Colorado College as part of the Navy-Marine V-12 program.

Both Jacqueline and her older sister Dorothy attended Colorado College at an interesting time where student dress was concerned. Women students in the late 1930s and early 1940s liked to wear argyle sweaters, plaid skirts, white bobby sox, and pearls.

Jacqueline Rose Lawson worked as a “visitor” at the El Paso County Department of Public Welfare in the late 1940s. In 1948, Jacqueline was listed as living at 1708 N. Tejon Street, the house immediately next door to 1712 North Tejon Street on the south side. She was still working for the county Welfare Department in 1948.

JACQUELINE ROSE

LAWSON – This photo-

graph is from The 1944

Nugget.

When Dorothy May and Jacqueline Rose Lawson married, both young ladies held their weddings at 1712 North Tejon Street (author interview, Jacqueline Rose [Lawson] Conwill). The older daughter’s married name was Dorothy May Bentson. She lived in Lakewood, Colorado. The younger daughter’s married name was Jacqueline Conwill, and she lived in Colorado Springs with her husband, Harold R. Conwill, at 3201 Primrose Drive.

Jacqueline Rose (Lawson) Conwill passed away on February 25, 2002, at 80-years-old. Her husband, Harold R. Conwill, died on September 2, 1990. Jacqueline Conwill taught for 22 years at the Pine Valley Elementary School at the Air Force Academy. She traveled to both Russia and the Galapagos Islands. She was active in the Colorado College Alumni. She served as a docent at the Pioneer’s Museum in Colorado Springs. She also was a “grandfriend” to elementary school children.

Her funeral was held at the First Baptist Church in Colorado Springs with burial in Evergreen Cemetery. She was survived by two daughters, Linda L. Rose (husband William A.) and Mellissa C. Noe (husband Richard M.), and two grandchildren, Lindsey C. and Justin L. Noe (“Jacqueline Rose Conwill,” Colorado Springs Gazette, February 28, 2002, p. METRO 4).

In the mid-1980s, more than 30 years after the Lawsons had moved away from 1712 North Tejon Street, a representative of a Colorado Springs fence company stopped by the house to bid on needed fence repairs. The negotiations were conducted in the second parlor, or back parlor, of the home. After getting the job of repairing the fence for his company, the fence company representative rose out of his chair, walked to the fireplace, and said: “I would swear I was married in front of this fireplace in this house.” Jacqueline Rose (Lawson) Conwill subsequently confirmed that her husband had, indeed, worked for a fence company and had been married to her in her family’s home at 1712 North Tejon Street.

Jack Lawson was an active participant in community life in Colorado Springs. He was a member of the board of the Boys Club and served two terms as president of that organization. He founded and operated for many years the Pike’s Peak New Bureau, which provided publicity and managed public relations for the City of Colorado Springs. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club and attended the First Baptist Church.

ON THE JOB – Jack Lawson working with a group of Colorado College students in the early 1940s. Photograph from The 1943 Nugget.

The Lawsons did not do any major remodeling while living at 1712 North Tejon Street. They sold the home in 1950 and moved to 624 E. Fontanero Street in the neighborhood adjoining the Patty Jewett Golf Course. They were living there in early March of 1955 when Jack Lawson passed away.

The Swan Funeral Home handled the arrangements. Following private services with the Reverend H. D. Coulter officiating, Jack F. Lawson was buried in Evergreen Cemetery. The family requested that, instead of flowers, friends donate to the First Baptist Church Building Fund. At the time of his death, Jack Lawson had six grandchildren (“Jack F. Lawson, Former Gazette City Editor, Dies,” Colorado Springs Gazette, March 7, 1955, p. 1).

AUSTIN AND MARGARET CARTER HOYT - 1950 TO 1963

In 1950, the house at 1712 North Tejon Street was sold to Austin and Margaret Carter Hoyt. They had recently moved to Colorado Springs from Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Austin Hoyt was born in Beacon, New York. He attended school in Beacon. He then went to the University of Alabama and St. John’s University. In 1938, he received his Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Virginia Law School, where he was on the Law Review Board. He was subsequently admitted to the bar in New York, the District of Columbia, and Colorado.

Austin Hoyt held a number of legal posts with the United States Government. From 1938 to 1940, he was an attorney for the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). He practiced law in Beacon for two years from 1940 to 1942. He then went to work for the U.S. Department of Justice as a special attorney in the war frauds unit of the Antitrust and Criminal Divisions from 1942 to 1944.

From 1944 to 1946, he was on active duty in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He served in the United States and the Pacific as an air combat intelligence officer.

He next became a special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1946 to 1949. He was assigned as assistant chief of the compromise section of the Tax Division. He represented the United States Government in important tax cases before U.S. circuit courts of appeal throughout the nation. Attorney General Tom C. Clark accepted “with regret” Austin Hoyt’s resignation from the Justice Department.

Upon moving to Colorado Springs in 1949, Austin Hoyt went into private law practice with Mervin A. Ziegler. Their offices, Ziegler and Hoyt, were at 512 Mining Exchange Building. Mervin Ziegler and his wife Virginia lived down the street from the Hoyts at 1623 N. Tejon Street. Ziegler and Hoyt had been classmates at the University of Virginia Law School (“Justice Department Lawyer Joins Ziegler Firm,” Colorado Springs Free Press, July 2 1949, p. 13).

By 1958 Austin Hoyt had changed law partners and moved his offices to 212 Mining Exchange Building. The new firm name was Hoyt and Gallagher.

In 1959, Austin Hoyt was appointed a district court judge in Colorado Springs for the Colorado Fourth Judicial District, which includes El Paso County (Colorado Springs) and Teller County (Woodland Park, Divide, Cripple Creek and Victor). He subsequently was addressed and remembered by many people in Colorado Springs as “Judge Hoyt.” He stepped down as a district court judge and returned to his private law practice in 1961, so he was on the local bench approximately two years.

In July of 1962, President John F. Kennedy nominated Austin Hoyt to be a judge of the U.S. Tax Court in Washington, D.C. The nomination was for a 12-year term with a salary of $22,500 per year. The nomination was supported by a majority vote in the United States Senate, thereby making it official. Soon after, the Hoyts left 1712 North Tejon Street and Colorado Springs for the “Nation’s Capital.” John A. Carroll, a United States senator from Colorado who was a Democrat, officially announced the happy news that Austin Hoyt had been nominated by President Kennedy to the Tax Court. Austin Hoyt told the local press in Colorado Springs that he was “gratified and honored” to be nominated by President Kennedy (“Kennedy To Name Austin Hoyt Tax Court Judge,” Colorado Springs Gazette, July 17, 1962, p. 1).

While living at 1712 North Tejon Street, Austin Hoyt was very active in civic affairs. He served as president of the Colorado Springs Symphony orchestra from 1958 until 1960. He helped to found and served as president of the Colorado Springs School for Girls, subsequently the Colorado Springs School. He was a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants (“In Memoriam: Austin Hoyt,” Colorado Springs Gazette, June 24, 1976, p. A14).

Austin Hoyt was elected county chairman of the El Paso County Democratic Party. Douglas Mertz, a professor of Political Science at Colorado College, recalled attending executive-type meetings of the El Paso County Democratic Party at 1712 North Tejon Street at which Austin Hoyt presided (comment to author, J. Douglas Mertz).

According to the Pike’s Peak Regional Building Department, Austin and Margaret Hoyt made two major improvement to the house at 1712 N. Tejon Street.

On January 6, 1953, Building Permit 37880 authorized changing the second-floor sun porch into a second upstairs bathroom. The floor of the room, at the southwest corner of the second floor, was raised to permit the installation of water and sewer pipes. A washstand, toilet, and metal shower stall were installed. The four large windows, which originally could be opened, were replaced with permanent frosted-glass panels appropriate to a bathroom.

There is a good chance that the so-called “sun porch” was actually a tuberculosis sleeping room. Because the high elevation (6,000 feet above sea level) and clear dry air made Colorado Springs a good place for people with tuberculosis, a number of early homes were equipped with a small room with large windows that could be opened when the tubercular member of the family went to sleep in the room. The sun porch at 1712 North Tejon, subsequently the second upstairs bathroom, probably was originally intended as a tuberculosis sleeping room. Whether it was ever used as such is unknown. The discovery of penicillin at the time of World War Two provided a cure for tuberculosis and thereby eliminated the usefulness of the tuberculosis sleeping rooms in Colorado Springs.

On August 23, 1960, Building Permit 52668 authorized the Hoyts to “replace existing porch.” The permit probably applied to the back porch, off the kitchen, which does appear to have been rebuilt with 1960s materials, particularly the metal railings and the metal pillars with a tree-leaf motif. The front porch, a wrap-around veranda, does not appear to have been altered at all since the house was built.

The Hoyts had three children. There were two daughters and a son. The older daughter’s married name was Mrs. Daniel Rolland and her adult home in 1976 was in Columbia Station, Ohio. The second daughter was Dale Hoyt, whose adult home in 1976 was in Chapala, Mexico. The son was John Carter Hoyt, of Archer, Florida. As of 1976, the Hoyts had five grandchildren (“In Memoriam: Austin Hoyt, Colorado Springs Gazette, June 24, 1976, p. A14).

The son, John Carter Hoyt, appeared determined to leave his mark on the house at 1712 North Tejon Street. He took a diamond and etched his name in the glass of the side door of the house in the back parlor.

One legend about Austin and Margaret Hoyt involved damage to the original wooden shingle roof on the house at 1712 North Tejon Street. The insurance company supposedly gave the Hoyts a large check to pay to repair the roof. Instead of using the money to fix the roof, however, the Hoyts used it to pay for a trip to Europe instead (comments to author, Sue Ormes, neighbor).

Ten years after leaving Colorado Springs and moving to the Washington, D.C., area, Austin Hoyt retired from the U.S. Tax Court in 1972. Although retired, he consented to periodically return to the Tax Court to help with various judicial duties as needed. During his years in the national capital, Austin Hoyt served as president of the University of Virginia Law School Alumni Association from 1965 to 1968 (“Former Judge Hoyt Retired Oct. 31,” Colorado Springs Gazette, November 11, 1971, p. A4.).

Austin Hoyt passed away in June of 1976. At the time, he was a member of the Vestry of St. Peter’s Church in Port Royal, Virginia. Friends were asked to contribute to the Austin Hoyt Memorial Fund at the church.

More than 30 years after the Hoyts moved away from 1712 North Tejon Street, a class was held in the home for a group of students from Colorado College. After the class was over and the students were talking socially, a young woman student said: “My father grew up in this house.” It turned out she was Sarah Hoyt, the daughter of John Carter Hoyt and the granddaughter of Austin and Margaret Hoyt. In subsequent conversations with her, the student was addressed, in a warm and friendly manner, as “the house granddaughter.”

DAVID Q. AND PATRICIA T. LEWIS - 1963 TO 1976

David Q. Lewis, III, and his wife, Patricia Tolley Lewis, acquired the house at 1712 North Tejon Street in 1963. They said the home required a great deal of fixing up at the time they moved in. “The exterior wood on the house simply drank paint when we went to repaint it,” David Lewis said, “because it had not been painted for so long.”

Patricia Tolley Lewis was a longtime resident of Colorado Springs. The home in which she grew up was located on Cascade Avenue in the Old North End. Her father, Kenneth Tolley, owned Tolley Insurance, which sold fire, automobile, casualty, and surety insurance from offices at 205 Exchange National Bank Building. It subsequently became the Tolley-Weidman insurance agency.

David Q. Lewis, III, was a graduate of Colorado College. He married Patricia Tolley and went to work for Tolley-Weidman insurance. He subsequently became president of the firm.

David and Patricia Lewis did some major remodeling. The story was told that they bought the “display kitchen” from Bailey’s Kitchens in downtown Colorado Springs and had it installed at 1712 North Tejon Street. In the process, they took out windows on the north wall of the kitchen, replaced them with two windows right at the northwest corner of the house, and added a breakfast area nest to the two new windows. A pantry was removed to make room for the breakfast area.

The new kitchen included dark-stained cabinets and woodwork along with an avocado-colored cook top. Also in avocado were the two built-in wall ovens, the refrigerator, and the dishwasher. Avocado was a very popular kitchen-utility color in the early 1970s. As the years passed and the advocado-colored utilities began to wear out, the refrigerator and the dishwater were both replaced with non-avocado utilities (cream-colored for the refrigerator and black for the dishwasher).

The re-done kitchen also featured a flowery wallpaper on a white background, a brightly-painted red Dutch door, and yellow kitchen carpeting. A large hood over the cook top, suitable for a restaurant, was equipped with a giant fan to whisk away kitchen smoke and odors.

The Lewises also replaced all the fixtures in the main upstairs bathroom with new facilities, all with a gray-colored porcelain. The old Victorian bathtub, with claw feet, was removed and replaced with a modern bathtub with a folding-plastic shower enclosure.

David and Patty Lewis, as she was called, had three children. There were two older girls and a boy. When the Lewises remodeled the kitchen, they removed the heat duct from the furnace to the back bedroom located above the kitchen on the second floor. Patty Lewis said that their son, Chip, who slept in the back bedroom, “never seemed to mind the cold.” (Comments to author by David and Patricia Lewis).

The Lewises sold 1712 North Tejon Street in the fall of 1975 and moved out on January 31, 1976. They moved to a larger house in the Broadmoor area of Colorado Springs. The 1990 street directory listed David Lewis as retired.

One of the Lewis daughters married, stayed in Colorado Springs, and had children. In subsequent years, on Halloween night, she would take her children trick and treating in the Old North End. She would stop at 1712 North Tejon Street, identify herself as a former resident of the home, and reminisce to the new owners about her childhood experiences in the home.