HomeMy WebLinkAboutFRONT RANGE STORAGE - PDP230011 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Community Development & Neighborhood Services
281 North College Avenue
P.O. Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580
970.416.4250
preservation@fcgov.com
fcgov.com/historicpreservation
Historic Preservation Services
OFFICIAL DETERMINATION:
FORT COLLINS LANDMARK ELIGIBILITY
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Historic Building Name: Allison Homestead, Petry Farm/Ranch, Grimm/Osborne/Campbell/
Wilde/Smiley/Hale/Gault/Fisher-King/Portner/Einarsen/Buckeye Farms Property
Property Address: 1312 NE Frontage Rd
Determination: NOT ELIGIBLE
Issued: July 19, 2023
Expiration: July 19, 2028
ATTN: Eric Kelley
Freedom Storage, LLC
4920 Saddlewood Circle
Johnstown, CO 80534-8215
Dear Property Owner:
This letter provides you with confirmation that your property has been evaluated for Fort Collins
landmark eligibility, following the requirements in Chapter 14, Article II of the Fort Collins Municipal
Code, and has been found not eligible for landmark designation.
An intensive-level Colorado Cultural Resource Survey Form was completed by a third-party historic
preservation consultant in order to provide the information that serves as the basis for an evaluation of a
property’s historic and/or architectural significance and its integrity, both of which are required for
landmark eligibility as per Article II, Section 14-22.
Staff has made the following findings regarding the information and evaluation of significance, integrity,
and landmark eligibility provided by the consultant in the attached form.
Significance
Consultant’s evaluation:
Prominent agriculturalists, such as Thomas Hale, John H. Gault, Jacob M. Fisher, and
Roy and Margaret Portner owned this property, based on the ownership history, census
data, and directory information. However, it does not appear that any actually lived at
this property. Instead, the farm buildings and fields were only one part of larger
portfolios of agricultural holdings and most likely occupied by tenants. While associated
generally with Larimer County agriculture, the property does not possess a sufficient
level of significance to meet eligibility criteria. This property was not selected for
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intensive survey in the 1994 survey of agricultural properties within the Fort Collins
Urban Growth Area (UGA) by Karen and Carl McWilliams. The reconnaissance level
assessment of the property was “not eligible.” The surveyors appeared to find the now
missing barn the most notable resource here and observed that only about forty of the
hundreds of barns within the UGA were still standing.
Staff agrees with the consultant’s conclusions regarding the property’s significance but would specify the
following regarding each significance criteria:
- Standard 1 (Events/Trends): Based on the research completed by FRRA, the property does not
appear to be associated with any significant trends in agriculture in the Fort Collins area. While
there are a diminishing number of farms reflecting the region’s agricultural history surviving in
the area, this property does not appear to be a significant reflection of that history, in part, due to
losses of integrity (see below).
- Standard 2 (Persons/Groups): Based on the research completed by FRRA, the property is
associated with significant people but indirectly so, mostly being an investment farm that was
part of the property portfolio for prominent local agriculturalists. Since this did not serve as the
primary farm for any of those notable people, it does not meet this standard.
- Standard 3 (Design/Construction): The farmhouse in particular possesses some merit under this
Standard as a rare reflection of what appears to be a late-19th century (likely 1890s) brick
farmhouse construction with a unique blend of Victorian-style features (segemented arch
windows, etc.) with a simple, elongated Hipped Roof Box form. However, the addition of
concrete stucco some time after construction has obscured most of those details. Furthermore, as
a larger farm complex, while the house and several outbuildings remain, the loss of the barn
makes it difficult for this property to meet Standard 3 as a significant reflection of an intact farm
complex.
- Standard 4 (Information Potential): Typically applied to archaeological potential, it is likely that
there are archaeological resources, such as a trash midden, privy site, etc., that could provide
diagnostic information about life and agricultural work at this farm. However, based on the lack
of overall significance, it is unlikely that such excavations would reveal significant information
about agricultural history in Larimer County.
• The property’s statement of significance is supported by a discussion of historical context and a
comparative analysis that is appropriate for the property. Relevant context reports have been
referenced and cited.
• Each significance criterion is not addressed in the statement of significance, even if not
applicable. (Staff has added an analysis above covering each Standard)
• For eligible properties, a period of significance is provided and justified based on the available
records. (N/A)
Integrity
Consultant’s evaluation:
The farm/ranch headquarters now is missing its most prominent historic agricultural
resource, an early twentieth century one-and-a-half-story gambrel roof board and batten
barn. Another fairly large building (unknown use) is no longer extant east of the garage,
and a metal granary is no longer present. The 1994 survey of agricultural noted a
chicken coop here, now no longer extant. The house (walls and foundation) was stuccoed
pre-1950, obscuring its original brick walls, segmental arches, and stone foundation, as
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well as covering a window. The missing resources and alterations to the house diminish
the integrity of the property and its ability to represent historic agricultural practices.
Staff agrees with the consultant’s conclusions regarding the property’s integrity based on the following
findings.
• Essential physical features are identified in the integrity analysis and related to period of
significance.
• Discussion of integrity relates to the property’s most relevant aspects of integrity per its
significance.
• Discussion of integrity focuses on the property’s essential physical features, and relates to period
of significance.
• Discussion and conclusion responds directly to previous conclusions and assessments of the
property, whether in opposition or in agreement.
Statement of Eligibility:
Due to lack of demonstrable historic significance under the four City standards, as well as
modifications and demolition/removal of buildings, the property is evaluated as not eligible for
as a Fort Collins local landmark.
Per Article II, Section 14-23 of the code, any determination made by staff regarding eligibility may be
appealed to the Commission by the applicant, any resident of the City, or owner of property in the City.
Such appeal shall be set forth in writing and filed with the Director within fourteen (14) days of the
date of the staff's determination.
If you have any questions regarding this determination, or if I may be of any assistance, please do not
hesitate to contact me. I may be reached at jbertolini@fcgov.com, or 970-416-4250.
Sincerely,
Jim Bertolini
Senior Historic Preservation Planner
Attachment: Colorado Cultural Resource Survey Architectural Inventory Form 1403, dated July 11,
2023.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
OAHP1403
Rev. 9/98
COLORADO CULTURAL RESOURCE SURVEY
Architectural Inventory Form
Official eligibility determination
(OAHP use only)
Date Initials
Determined Eligible- NR
Determined Not Eligible- NR
Determined Eligible- SR
Determined Not Eligible- SR
Need Data
Contributes to eligible NR District
Noncontributing to eligible NR District
Field Evaluation of Fort Collins Landmark Eligibility
☐ Individually Eligible ☐ Contributing to District ☒ Not Eligible
☐ Likely Eligible for State/National Register
General Recommendations: Due to modifications and demolition/removal of buildings, the property is
evaluated as not eligible for listing in the in the National or State Registers or as a Fort Collins local
landmark.
I. Identification
1. Resource number: 5LR.15267 (State); B3243 (City)
2. Temporary resource number: N/A (parcel number 8703000005)
3. County: Larimer
4. City: Fort Collins
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
5. Historic building name: Allison Homestead, Petry Farm/Ranch, Grimm/Osborne/Campbell/
Wilde/Smiley/Hale/Gault/Fisher-King/Portner/Einarsen/Buckeye Farms Property
6. Current building name: U-Haul Rental, Freedom Storage Property
7. Building address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
8. Owner name and address: Freedom Storage LLC, 4920 Saddlewood Circle, Johnstown,
Colorado 80534
II. Geographic Information
9. P.M. 6th Township 7N Range 68W
SW ¼ of NE ¼ of SW ¼ of NW ¼ of section 3
10. UTM reference
Zone 13; 499948 mE 4494904 mN
11. USGS quad name: Fort Collins, Colorado
Year: 2022 Map scale: 7.5' ☒ 15' ☐ Attach photocopy of appropriate map section.
12. Lot(s): N/A Block: N/A
Addition: N/A Year of Addition: N/A
13. Boundary Description and Justification:
The survey boundary includes the built-up farm headquarters area (approximately 2.1 acres)
of the much larger legal parcel (104.2 acres). The remainder of the parcel is currently plowed
fields and contains no standing buildings.
III. Architectural Description
14. Building plan (footprint, shape): Rectangular
15. Dimensions in feet: Length 52 Width 26
16. Number of stories: 1
17. Primary external wall material(s): Stucco, Wood/Weatherboard/Horizontal Siding
18. Roof configuration: Hipped Roof
19. Primary external roof material: Asphalt/Composition
20. Special features:
Chimney. Exposed Rafter Ends. Fence. Overhanging Eaves. Segmental Arch. Stoop.
21. General architectural description:
1. House (ca. late-1890s-1910; pre-1950, assessor appraisal card photograph, 1950). The one-
story, hipped roof house has a rectangular (52’x26’) footprint and faces west toward the frontage
road. The walls and foundation are clad with stucco. The foundation is painted green and projects
slightly from the wall. The house displays mostly tall, segmental arch, two-over-two-light, wood
windows with slightly projecting, tooled, tan sandstone sills. The roof has overhanging eaves and is
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
clad with asphalt composition shingles. There are short red brick chimneys with beveled concrete
caps at the ends of the north-south ridge.
Front. The front (west) has a roughly center entrance containing a historic wood door with a bottom
panel decorated with a garland. There is a fan-shaped ornament above the panel and a
rectangular light above. There is an aluminum storm door. A segmental arch transom is filled in and
stuccoed. The door opens onto a small concrete stoop.
Flanking the entrance are tall, segmental arch windows. To the north is another tall segmental arch
window. To the south is a shorter segmental arch two-over-two-light wood window with the top sash
shorter than the bottom sash. At the south end of the front is the west wall of a shed roof frame
addition. The west wall displays a band of three, four-light wood windows and walls clad with
clapboards.
South Wall. The south wall of the addition is clad with clapboards and contains an off-center
entrance to the west holding a paneled wood door with an aluminum storm door. To the west of the
entrance is a band of three, four-light wood windows; east of the entrance are two bands of three,
four-light wood windows separated by a vertical wood divider.
East Wall. At the south end, the east wall of the frame shed roof addition features a band of three,
four-light wood windows and walls clad with clapboards. To the north, the stucco east wall of the
original part of the house holds a tall segmental arch window opening that has been filled in and
stuccoed. Farther north are three tall segmental arch windows.
North Wall. The east section of the north wall is unfenestrated. At the west end is a tall segmental
arch window.
22. Architectural style/building type:
Hipped Roof Box
23. Landscaping or special setting features:
This cluster of farm buildings (covering about 2.1 acres) is part of a 104.2-acre parcel, located on
the east side of NE Frontage Road immediately north of the Larimer and Weld Canal. Aerial
photographs for 1953 and 1969 indicate that several more buildings were once located in this area.
The northbound lanes of Interstate 25 are located west of the frontage road. Historically (1940 and
earlier), the land associated with the buildings was smaller, encompassing only the south half of the
northwest corner of Section 3 (80 acres). Cultivated fields lie north and east of the group of
buildings, with uncultivated land between the buildings and the Larimer and Weld Canal.
A gravel driveway provides access from the frontage road, with a house, small shed, and garage
standing to the north and two sheds to the south. The north buildings are located between the
driveway and the north edge of the headquarters area. The area features a grass lawn and several
locust and evergreen trees. A single steel T clothesline post is located near the north property line,
northeast of the house. A large juniper shrub stands at the northwest corner of the house. A
concrete sidewalk is present, extending east to the root cellar and garage and then angling
northeast to a former building location. The west edge of the property is bounded by a barbed wire
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
fence north of the driveway and a vertical board fence south of the driveway. The vertical board
fence continues along the southern edge of the driveway.
Historic aerial photographs from 1953 and 1969 show other buildings within the headquarters area,
as well as another cluster in the field to the east. A cylindrical metal grain bin once stood south of
the barn; it disappeared between 2009 and 2010. A one-and-a-half-story gambrel roof rectangular
barn with a large one-story rear addition previously was located at the east end of the driveway.
The one-story addition was removed between 2014 and 2016, and the barn itself disappeared
between June 2019 and October 2020.
24. Associated buildings, features, or objects:
2. Garage (ca. 1900-30; pre-1950, assessor appraisal card photograph, 1950). A circa 1957 update
on an old appraisal card provided a 1930 year of construction based on information supplied by a
farm tenant. The rectangular (24’x20’), one-story, front gable roof frame garage is located east of
the house and faces south toward the driveway. The building has a concrete perimeter foundation.
The walls and gable faces are clad with wood drop siding with cornerboards. The front holds two
wood vertical tongue and groove garage doors; the east one is mounted on an overhead metal track
(it is not known if the western door is operable). The gable face above the doors holds a basketball
hoop with a plywood backstop. The west wall contains a five-panel wood door at the south end and
paired six-light wood windows at the north end. All doors and windows have plain wood surrounds.
The north wall is unfenestrated. The east wall holds paired six-light wood windows at the north end
and is otherwise unfenestrated. A vertical seam on the east and west walls suggests the building
may have been created by combining two buildings or was later expanded (date unknown). The
garage has overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails and asphalt composition roofing shingles.
Only wire nails were observed.
3. Root Cellar (ca. 1900-30; pre-1969, aerial photograph, 1969). The subterranean root cellar,
situated between the house and the garage, faces south toward the driveway and measures
approximately 18’ north-south and 8’ east-west. The resource consists of a small front gable roof
frame section to the south that shelters the stairs to the cellar. This section rests on sloping concrete
sidewalls and has walls clad with drop siding with cornerboards. The south wall contains a vertical
tongue and groove door with strap hinges. To the north, the cellar roof is composed of a low, poured
concrete, slightly asymmetrical shallow gable roof section; at its north end is a gabled roof cupola
with louvered wood walls resting on a raised concrete base. The south section and cupola both
have overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails and asphalt composition roofing shingles. Only
wire nails were observed. There is a water hand pump near the northeast corner of the cellar.
4. North Shed (ca. 1900-30; pre-1969, aerial photograph, 1969). A circa 1957 update on an old
appraisal card provided a 1915 year of construction based on information supplied by a farm tenant.
The building does not appear to be in this location on a 1953 aerial photograph, but is visible on a
1969 aerial. The square (12’x12’) north shed is located along the vertical board fence bordering the
frontage road and faces east. The building has a hipped roof on the east but is gabled on the west.
The shed does not have a foundation, and the walls are clad with wood drop siding with
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
cornerboards. The front has a center entrance (no door present) with a plain wood surround. The
north wall is unfenestrated. The rear wall (west) has paired drop siding-clad doors in the gable face;
the doors are hinged in the center with strap hinges. The south wall contains a window opening filled
with drop siding. The roof is clad with wood shingles and has overhanging eaves and exposed rafter
tails. The interior features strip wood flooring and most walls and the ceiling are clad with flush
horizontal cladding. Only wire nails were observed. Eric Kelley, the representative of the current
owner, reported that both of the sheds by the road were used to offload trucks with silage.
5. South Shed (ca. 1900-30; pre-1953, aerial photograph, 1953). A circa 1957 update on an old
appraisal card provided a 1910 year of construction based on information supplied by a farm tenant.
The rectangular (28’x12’) south shed faces east and is located immediately south of the north shed
along the vertical board fence bordering the frontage road. The shed roof frame shed has a poured
concrete foundation and walls clad with wood drop siding with cornerboards. The front holds two
doors toward the north and south ends; each is composed of drop siding and the south door has a
horseshoe nailed above it. The north and south walls are unfenestrated. The west wall contains two
openings at the top of the wall toward each end. The openings have doors composed of drop siding,
are hinged at the bottom with drop hinges, and have plain wood surrounds. The roof is clad with
wood shingles and has overhanging eaves and exposed rafter tails. Only wire nails were observed.
IV. Architectural History
25. Date of Construction: Estimate: late-1890s to 1910s Actual:
Source of information: Field examination and ownership history
26. Architect: Unknown
Source of information:
27. Builder/Contractor: Unknown
Source of information:
28. Original owner: Unknown
Source of information:
29. Construction history (include description and dates of major additions, alterations, or demolitions):
There are no Sanborn fire insurance maps covering this location; aerial photographs are available
for 1953 and 1969. The house has brick walls and a stone foundation, based on appraisal card
information. At some date prior to 1950, the walls and foundation were stuccoed. The 1950
appraisal card photograph also showed the transom of the main entrance (west wall) stuccoed. A
window opening on the east wall at the south end has been filled in and stuccoed (date unknown).
The 1950 appraisal card drawing showed the frame section to the south covering only part of that
wall (measuring 7’x17’); by 1969 it extended the full width of the house (7’x26’).
30. Original location ☒ Moved ☐ Date of move(s):
V. Historical Associations
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
31. Original use(s): Domestic/Single Dwelling, Agriculture/Storage/Cellar,
Agriculture/Agricultural Outbuildings, Agriculture/Agricultural Field
32. Intermediate use(s): Domestic/Single Dwelling, Agriculture/Storage/Cellar,
Agriculture/Agricultural Outbuildings, Agriculture/Agricultural Field
33. Current use(s): Commerce/Business, Agriculture/Agricultural Field, Vacant/Not in Use
34. Site type(s): Farmhouse and associated outbuildings
35. Historical background:
This property is located in a once-rural area four miles northeast of Fort Collins. There are no
building permits, fire insurance maps, newspaper articles, or relevant aerial photographs to assist in
determining when this house was erected. The assessor provides an 1890 year of construction,
apparently based on information supplied by a tenant in 1957 (according to an old appraisal card).
The dwelling’s form (hipped-roof box) and construction details—brick walls (now stuccoed), wire cut
nails, stone foundation, segmental arch windows with tooled stone sills and two-over-two-light wood
windows—suggest construction between the late-1890s and 1910s. Given the number of short-
term, non-resident owners during this period, it is unclear who was responsible for constructing the
house.
Original Owners: The Allisons. The land containing this cluster of buildings was removed from the
public domain by a Cash Entry Patent issued to Hiram H. Allison on August 5, 1890. Allison was
born in Missouri in 1853. The 1860 US Census found him living with his parents in Lewis County,
Missouri, where the family farmed. By 1880 Allison lived in the Lefthand area of Boulder County,
where he worked as a laborer. His household encompassed his wife, Eva (Walker) Allison, and two
sons, L.L. and Charlie. According to the 1885 Colorado Census, the Allisons farmed and resided in
Larimer County (location unspecified). The family then included Hiram, Eva, and four children: sons
L. (six years old) and Roscoe C. (three) and daughters Isa G. (four) and Maud (one). The Allisons
may have been on this property by 1884 or perhaps somewhat earlier. The Fort Collins Courier
included Allison in a listing of Larimer County Wheat Growers in August 1884, when he harvested
2,400 bushels of wheat. In 1887, newspaper accounts showed Hiram Allison filing for a Cash Entry
on the subject property.
In September 1887 Eva Allison died “at the family residence five miles east of Fort Collins.” The Fort
Collins Courier reported that at 1pm “her undying spirit winged its way through the blue ether of
eternal space to its long sought home on high.” Hiram Allison received the Cash Entry for this land
on August 5, 1887 and died on August 18, 1890 at age thirty-seven.
Interim Short-Term Owners. Following the Allisons, the land had a number of short-term (mostly
nonresident) owners in the 1890s through early-1900s. In November 1887 Sarah A. Grimm became
owner of the West Half of the Northwest Quarter of Section 3 (the area with the standing buildings);
she acquired the east half of the section in 1888. In 1889 Grimm sold the land to Stephen A.
Osborn, who briefly held the land before disposing of it to John and Joseph Petry in November
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
1891. The Petrys apparently lived on the land: an 1893 list of electors who did not vote in the
November election showed John and Joseph Petry living in the northwest quarter of Section 3,
Township 7 North, Range 68 West. In June 1893, Gibson W. Campbell purchased the land from the
Petrys. Campbell was the secretary of the Fidelity Building and Loan Association, established in
1891 in Denver. The land appears to have been an investment for Campbell.
Campbell sold the property to Cora Wilde for $9,600 in 1894. Cora (Kettle) Wilde (born 1868 in
Colorado) married William T. Wilde in 1891. She was the daughter of pioneer George Kettle of
Denver, who platted the large South Denver subdivision. She does not appear in Larimer County
newspapers and was living in the Denver area in 1906, when she divorced her husband for
nonsupport. A search of grantor-grantee books and newspapers did not reveal when Wilde sold this
property.
Hale. W.H. Smiley owned the property in 1909. He appears to have lived in Denver, where he was a
schoolteacher and active in the Colorado Teachers’ Association. Smiley sold the entire northwest
quarter of section 3 to Thomas Hale in 1909 for $16,000. Hale immediately sold it to N.M. Russell
for $16,300. No Russell with these initials was located in census records or online newspapers in
Larimer County. Hale repurchased the land in 1911 for $18,000. The 1914 and 1915 maps of the
Irrigated Farms North of Denver showed Thomas Hale as the owner of this property. Born in Queen
City, Missouri, in 1876, he married Carolyn Skinner in 1896. The Hales came to Larimer County in
1899, and Mr. Hale “followed the occupation of a farmer and stock raiser, on his farm eight miles
east of here [Fort Collins].” The subject property is only about four miles northeast of the center of
Fort Collins, so it appears to have been part of Hale’s landholdings and not his principal residence.
Hale was a somewhat notorious figure. In 1907 he pleaded guilty to stealing sixteen head of cattle.
Hale turned state’s evidence to implicate Edward Marshall, his partner in the crime, thus avoiding
prison but paying a fine of $1,000. It is unclear why Hale participated in the theft, as newspaper
accounts reported that he was “worth in his own right from $12,000 to $15,000” at the time.
Ansel Watrous in his 1911 History of Larimer County included a short biography of Hale, noting that
he had been “very successful” at farming and stock raising and that “he owns and cultivates a good
farm and buys and sells live stock.” In 1918 Hale was charged with violating the Fort Collins
quarantine during the flu epidemic. In 1919 the Hales moved from their ranch to occupy a house at
614 West Mountain Avenue. Hale’s 1928 obituary described him as a “well known rancher and
livestock feeder.”
Gault. In 1915 Hale sold all of the northwest quarter of Section 3 to John H. Gault for $20,000. In
addition, as part of a multi-party transaction, Hale acquired a half-section at the Mahood beet dump
and Gault a garage property in Fort Collins. Gault (1851-1938), a native of Tennessee, grew up in
Illinois and first came to Colorado in 1872. He married Mary Miller in 1876 and the couple
permanently settled in Fort Collins in 1879. Gault was active in many business undertakings in Fort
Collins and environs, including the Mansion Livery, Gault’s Custom Feed Mill, a sawmill, and (later)
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
a garage in the city, where he served as city marshal (1888-89). He operated a threshing outfit
employing fourteen men in 1885 and had a 160-acre property near Timnath that included farm,
orchard, and pasture lands. He and Mary had two daughters, Alta and Alma, who served as
schoolteachers and briefly operated a stationery store in Fort Collins in 1899-1900. Following
Mary’s death in 1903, Gault married Eva T. Bradt in 1905 (a Wisconsin native born there in 1878).
Alta moved to Hawaii in 1905 and continued teaching school, while Alma died by suicide in a Fort
Collins park in 1910. Alta moved to Sacramento, California, in about 1964, where she died in 1980
at age 103.
Gault transferred the north half of the northwest quarter to his absent daughter Alta J. Gault in 1919.
In 1920 John and Alta Gault sold their land parcels to J.M. Fisher and C.C. King, who acquired the
north half from Alta for $20,000 on a five-year loan and the south half from John on a ten-year loan.
Jacob M. Fisher (1865-1945) was a West Virginia native, who married Florence Albers in 1896. The
couple lived in St. Joseph, Missouri, until moving to Fort Collins in 1906, where he operated a
grocery store. Fisher sold the grocery in 1914 and then “owned a farm near here and operated as a
livestock feeder,” according to his 1945 obituary. Newspaper articles from the 1910s-early-1920s
show the Fishers living in Fort Collins and Mr. Fisher raising lambs in the vicinity of Wellington. C.C.
King was also engaged in raising sheep.
The Gaults later reacquired the land; the buyers may have defaulted or sold the land back. John and
Eva Gault lived in Fort Collins at 316 West Mountain Avenue from at least 1920 until his death in
1938. His obituary described him as “the owner of a number of farms and spent his time in their
supervision.” The 1939 rural directory and 1940 Larimer County Atlas showed Alta J. Gault as the
owner of the northwest quarter of section 3, while Eva T. Gault owned the quarter section to the
south. Eva may have owned a half-interest in the south half of the northwest quarter, for she
attempted to sell her interest to the Portner Investment Company in 1939. Alta successfully sued to
block the transaction, and the property (with undivided interests) was sold by auction in 1940 to
Margaret R. Portner.
Portner. Margaret Portner was the wife of Roy A. Portner. She transferred the property to Roy in
1940, and assessor appraisal cards for 1950 and 1975 identify this as the Roy A. Portner property.
Roy Portner was born in 1885 in Hiawatha, Kansas. He settled in Fort Collins in 1902, where he
graduated from Colorado Agricultural College and engaged in real estate, stock dealing, and
ranching. In 1909, he married Fern Ward, who died during the 1918 influenza epidemic.
In 1921 Roy Portner married Margaret Ross. The couple lived at 322 West Laurel Street for more
than half a century. In 1920 Portner organized the Mountain and Plains Irrigation Company, which
engaged in trans-mountain water diversions. He once was among the top ten sugar beet producers
in Larimer County and also raised wheat on dryland properties. This was one of Portner’s many
farm holdings.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Einarsen and Buckeye Farms. Following Roy Portner’s death in 1976, in 1980 his estate sold to
Harold D. Einarsen and Sam Matsuda an undivided half-interest each in this property. Einarsen
(1928-1998) was born in Denver and grew up in Wheat Ridge, where his family operated a
vegetable truck farm. Einarsen served in the US Navy during World War II and then received a
degree in animal husbandry from Colorado A&M College. He married Shirley M. Phillips in 1949
and worked for a few years in education and as a CSU Extension Agent. In the mid-1950s, the
couple settled in Fort Collins, where Harold served as general manager of the American Fertilizer
and Chemical Company. The couple also crop farmed in the Fort Collins and Timnath areas. He
served as president of the Fort Collins Sugar Beet Growers Association and as president of the Fort
Collins Conservation District. Harold engaged in real estate starting in 1976, and he and his wife
had their own firm from 1986 until her death in 1998 and his retirement in 2006. Harold Einarsen
died in 2018.
Son David Einarsen recalled that the family may have “briefly” lived here, but generally “just farmed
the land.” Directory listings for the 1980s show non-owners at this address, including: 1980, G. Rus
and Julie Dwight (a student at CSU) and Wayne Schnorr, a farmer and cattle feeder. In 1987-88,
Chris A. Witman, a mechanic at Colorado Import Motors, and his wife, Joy, an operator at NCR,
lived here. In 1988 Harold Einarsen and Buckeye Farms, Inc. (Matsuda’s company) applied for
annexation of the property to the City of Fort Collins (approved October 18, 1988).
Harold Einarsen later added his wife Shirley P. as co-owner. In 1993 the Einarsens transferred the
land to themselves and Buckeye Farms, Inc. (Kenji Matsuda was then president of Buckeye). In
1997 the Harold D. Einarsen Trust and the Shirley P. Einarsen Trust became owners of the
property. Shirley died in 1998, and her trust transferred its interest to the Shirley P. Einarsen Family
Trust that year. Harold Einarsen died in 2018.
Between June 2019 and October 2020 the barn at the headquarters disappeared. In 2022 the
Harold D. Einarsen Trust and the Shirley P. Einarsen Family Trust sold the property to Freedom
Storage LLC, the current owner. Current plans contemplate construction of a storage facility on the
built-up headquarters area of the parcel with farming continuing on the remaining land.
36. Sources of information:
Larimer County Assessor, real estate information, Fort Collins, Colorado; Larimer County Assessor,
appraisal card and photograph, November 1950 and 1975, in the files of the Fort Collins Museum of
Discovery, Fort Collins, Colorado; Larimer County Clerk and Recorder, deeds and ownership
transactions and Grantor-Grantee indexes, Fort Collins, Colorado; Fort Collins city directories,
1902-95; Fort Collins Courier, August 14, 1884, 4 (Allison wheat grower), February 17, 1887
(Allison Cash Entry notice advertised), September 8, 1887, 5 (Eva Allison death), November 6,
1907 (Hale confesses to cattle theft), December 20, 1918 (Hale charged with violating flu
quarantine), and March 4, 1919 (Hales buy Fort Collins house); Fort Collins Express Courier,
December 18, 1928 (Hale obituary); Fort Collins Weekly Courier, August 26, 1908 (Hale fined for
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
cattle theft) February 19, 1915 (Hale sells to Gault); Fort Collins Coloradoan, June 22, 1945 (J.M.
Fisher obituary) and December 9, 1976 (Roy Portner obituary); Evadene B. Swanson, Fort Collins
Yesterdays (Fort Collins, Colorado: The author, 1975), 244 (Portner background); Map of the
Irrigated Farms North of Denver: Tributary to the Factories of the Great Western Sugar Company
(N.p., n.p.: 1914 and 1915), on file Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, Fort Collins, Colorado;
Buckeye Farms and Harold D. Einarsen Annexation to the City of Fort Collins, ordinance number
114-1988, October 18, 1988; Carl McWilliams and Karen McWilliams, Agriculture in the Fort Collins
Urban Growth area, 1862-1994 (Fort Collins, Colorado: Cultural Resource Historians, March 1995);
David Einarsen, Fort Collins, Colorado, telephone interview by Thomas H. Simmons, June 8, 2023;
Patricia Tirar (descendant of Thomas Hale), emails to Thomas H. Simmons, July 2, 4, and 7, 2023;
Eric Kelley, Fort Collins, Colorado, email to Thomas H. Simmons, May 31, 2023; Ansel Watrous,
History of Larimer County, Colorado (Fort Collins, Colorado: Courier Printing and Publishing
Company, 1911), 31-32.
VI. Significance
37. Local landmark designation: Yes ☐ No ☒ Date of designation: N/A
Designating authority: N/A
38. Applicable Eligibility Criteria:
National
Register
Fort Collins
Register
☐ A. ☐ 1. Associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad
pattern of our history;
☐ B. ☐ 2. Associated with the lives of persons significant in our past;
☐ C. ☐ 3. Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction, or represents the work of a master, or that possess high artistic
values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose
components may lack individual distinction; or
☐ D. ☐ 4. Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in history or
prehistory.
☐ Qualifies under Criteria Considerations A through G (see Manual)
☒ Does not meet any of the above criteria
Needs additional research under standards: ☐ A/1 ☐ B/2 ☐ C/3 ☐ D/4
39. Area(s) of significance:
N/A
40. Period of significance: N/A
41. Level of significance: National ☐ State ☐ Local ☐
42. Statement of significance:
Prominent agriculturalists, such as Thomas Hale, John H. Gault, Jacob M. Fisher, and Roy and
Margaret Portner owned this property, based on the ownership history, census data, and directory
information. However, it does not appear that any actually lived at this property. Instead, the farm
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
buildings and fields were only one part of larger portfolios of agricultural holdings and most likely
occupied by tenants. While associated generally with Larimer County agriculture, the property does
not possess a sufficient level of significance to meet eligibility criteria. This property was not selected
for intensive survey in the 1994 survey of agricultural properties within the Fort Collins Urban Growth
Area (UGA) by Karen and Carl McWilliams. The reconnaissance level assessment of the property
was “not eligible.” The surveyors appeared to find the now missing barn the most notable resource
here and observed that only about forty of the hundreds of barns within the UGA were still standing.
Due to removal of buildings and changes noted below, the property also no longer retains historic
integrity. It is assessed as an unlikely candidate for listing in the National or State Registers or as a
local landmark.
43. Assessment of historic physical integrity related to significance:
The farm/ranch headquarters now is missing its most prominent historic agricultural resource, an early
twentieth century one-and-a-half-story gambrel roof board and batten barn. Another fairly large
building (unknown use) is no longer extant east of the garage, and a metal granary is no longer
present. The 1994 survey of agricultural noted a chicken coop here, now no longer extant. The house
(walls and foundation) was stuccoed pre-1950, obscuring its original brick walls, segmental arches,
and stone foundation, as well as covering a window. The missing resources and alterations to the
house diminish the integrity of the property and its ability to represent historic agricultural practices.
VII. National and Fort Collins Register Eligibility Assessment
44. Eligibility field assessment:
National:
Eligible ☐ Not Eligible ☒ Need Data ☐
Fort Collins:
Eligible ☐ Not Eligible ☒ Need Data ☐
45. Is there district potential? Yes ☐ No ☒
Discuss: The headquarters area no longer retains historic integrity. A one-and-a-half-story gambrel
roof barn with a large one-story rear addition previously stood at the east end of the driveway. The
one-story addition was removed between 2014 and 2016, and the barn itself disappeared between
October 2019 and October 2020. A metal granary to the southeast and another fairly large building
east of the garage are no longer present. Alterations to the house also diminish tis integrity and the
potential for a district.
If there is district potential, is this building: Contributing ☐ Non-contributing ☐
46. If the building is in existing district, is it: Contributing ☐ Noncontributing ☐
VIII. Recording Information
47. Photograph numbers: 01 through 35
Negatives filed at: City of Fort Collins
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
48. Report title: N/A
49. Date(s): Field surveyed June 27, 2023; form completed July 11, 2023
50. Recorder(s): Thomas H. Simmons and R. Laurie Simmons
51. Organization: Front Range Research Associates, Inc.
52. Address: 3635 W 46th Avenue, Denver, CO 80211
53. Phone number(s): 303-477-7597, frraden@msn.com, www.frhistory.com
NOTE: Please include a sketch map, a photocopy of the USGS quad map indicating resource location, and
photographs.
History Colorado - Office of Archaeology & Historic Preservation
1200 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203 (303) 866-3395
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Historic Photos/Drawings
Figure 1. This view
Northeast shows the
house and , to the
right, the root cellar
and garage in 1950.
SOURCE: Larimer
County Assessor,
appraisal card
photograph,
November 1950, in
the files of the Fort
Collins Museum of
Discovery, Fort
Collins, Colorado.
Figure 2. This view
east shows the
front of the barn
(now gone) in
1950. SOURCE:
Larimer County
Assessor,
appraisal card
photograph,
November 1950, in
the files of the Fort
Collins Museum of
Discovery, Fort
Collins, Colorado.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Figure 3. This
vertical aerial
photograph shows
the headquarters
area in 1953.
SOURCE: US
Geological Survey,
image number VV
FSM 73 AMS,
6652,
EarthExplorer,
September 24,
1953.
Figure 4. This
vertical aerial
photograph shows
the headquarters
area in 1969.
SOURCE: US
Geological Survey,
image number GS-
VCHU, 1-12,
EarthExplorer,
November 25,
1969.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Figure 5. This view
east shows the
house, garage,
barn, board fence,
and metal granary
in 1975. SOURCE:
Larimer County
Assessor,
appraisal card
photograph,
November 1975, in
the files of the Fort
Collins Museum of
Discovery, Fort
Collins, Colorado.
Figure 6. This 1994
photograph (view
northwest) shows
the garage and
part of the east wall
of the house.
SOURCE:
McWilliams and
McWilliams,
Agriculture in the
Fort Collins Urban
Growth Area,
1862-1994 (1995),
41.
Figure 7. This June
2019 Google street
View image (view
northeast) shows
the then-extant
barn to the right.
SOURCE: Google
Street View, June
2019.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Site Photos and Maps
Sketch Map: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Base: Google Earth, May 22, 2023
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
USGS Location Map. Surveyed resource is denoted by crosshair symbol. North is to the top and 1”=2,000’.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Current Photos (Date: June 27, 2023 by T.H. Simmons, photographer)
Photograph 1.
Overview of
property from the
east side of the
frontage road, south
of the Larimer and
Weld Canal. View
northeast.
Photograph 2. The
house, root cellar,
and garage
(Resources, 1, 3,
and 2, respectively)
on the north side of
the driveway. View
northeast.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 3. The
vertical board
fence and the
sheds (Resources
4 and 5) to the
south. View south-
southeast.
Photograph 4. The
house (Resource
1) from the
frontage road. View
east.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 5. The
front (west wall) of
the house
(Resource 1). View
east.
Photograph 6.
Detail of the door
on the front of the
house. View east.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 7. The
front and south
walls of the house.
View north-
northeast.
Photograph 8. The
south and east
walls of the house.
View north-
northwest.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 9. The
east wall of the
house with the root
cellar to the left.
View west-
southwest.
Photograph 10. A
typical segmental
arch two-over-two-
light wood window
with a projecting
tooled stone sill on
the east wall of the
house. View west.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 11.
Detail of a
projecting tooled
stone windowsill on
the east wall of the
house. View west.
Photograph 12.
The east and north
walls of the house.
View southwest.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 13.
The north wall of
the house. View
south.
Photograph 14.
The north and front
walls of the house.
View southeast.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 15.
The front (south
wall) of the garage
(Resource 2). View
north.
Photograph 16.
The front and west
walls of the garage.
View northeast.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 17.
The west and north
walls of the garage.
View southeast.
Photograph 18.
The north and east
walls of the garage.
View southwest.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 19.
The front and east
walls of the garage.
View northwest.
Photograph 20.
The front and west
walls of the root
cellar (Resource 3)
with the garage to
the right. View
northeast.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 21.
The front and east
walls of the root
cellar with the
house beyond.
View northwest.
Photograph 22.
The north and east
sides of the root
cellar with the
house in the
background. View
southwest.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 23.
The north and west
walls of the root
cellar. View
southeast.
Photograph 24.
The stairs into the
root cellar. View
north.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 25.
The front (east
wall) of the north
shed (Resource 4)
with the south shed
to the left. View
west.
Photograph 26.
The front and north
walls of the north
shed with the south
shed to the left.
View southwest.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 27.
The north and west
walls of the north
shed with the south
shed to the right.
View southeast.
Photograph 28.
The west and
south walls of the
north shed with the
south shed to the
right. View
northeast.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 29.
The front and south
walls of the north
shed with the south
shed to the left.
View northwest.
Photograph 30.
The interior of the
north shed. View
west-southwest.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 31.
The front (east
wall) of the south
shed (Resource 5)
with the north shed
to the right. View
west.
Photograph 32.
The front and north
walls of the south
shed with the north
shed to the right.
View southwest.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 33.
The front and south
walls of the south
shed with the north
shed to the right.
View northwest.
Photograph 34.
The south and
west walls of the
south shed with the
north shed to the
left. View
northeast.
Resource Number: B3243 (City); 5LR.15267 (State)
Temporary Resource Number: N/A Address: 1312 NE Frontage Road
Photograph 35.
The west and north
walls of the south
shed with the north
shed to the left.
View southeast.