Thursday, March 4, 2010

Colorado Casket Company





Oftentimes when I am doing research I come across random photos and think to myself, "Surely this building must have been demolished long ago." Such is the case with the Colorado Casket Company photo.

The picture caught my eye because of the name on the building of course! Its straightforwardness is refreshing in light of many of today's bewildering company names.

The Colorado Casket Company was located at 1213 Wazee Street and this picture dates from 1935. In my mind I was thinking the building would have been demolished during the destruction of old Auraria or perhaps as part of the widening of Speer Boulevard.

However, after consulting old maps, I found that Wazee Street corresponds partly with the current path of Auraria Parkway. In fact, when Auraria Parkway went in, part of Wazee went out! I thought of Kacey Fine Furniture at 1201 Auraria and realized that this casket building might actually still be in place.

An lo and behold, although its address is now listed as 1221 Auraria, the building in question remains! For a current view of this building, click here to go to Google maps.

Oh, by the way, the business currently listed at this address is 47 LTD LLC. Do you suppose they manufacture caskets?

3 comments:

harmanjd said...

No they don't manufacture caskets. They lease the building to my company - Local Matters.

One - interesting fact is that one of my co-workers here had a grandmother that used to work in the building when it WAS a casket factory.

Unknown said...

I believe that my Grandmother Rita Ducharme's father Paul Joseph Simones owned the Colorado Casket Company. I remember driving by the Kacey Fine Furniture bldg with my Grandmother a few years ago and having her point it out.

Unknown said...

I believe that my Grandmother's father owned the Colorado Casket Company. His name was Paul Joseph Simones and moved to Denver from Dubuque Iowa. I'd love to see any other old photos you have!