THE CASON HOWELL HOUSE

Lakewood has a fascinating history. The Lakewood Historical Society works hard to preserve Lakewood's history and significant landmarks. The Cason Howell House, located at 1575 Kipling Street, formerly known as Howell Avenue, is one of these many landmarks that shares a remarkably interesting story.

Cason Howell was born in 1830 in Howard County, Missouri- the same area that brought Colorado frontiersman Kit Carson. Mr. Howell is considered to be one of central Lakewood's earliest settlers; he traveled to Colorado by covered wagon in 1860 from Joplin, Missouri, where he owned a plantation. Although he kept slaves on his plantation, he didn't believe in slavery and because of that, refused to fight for the Confederate cause. Knowing that he would soon be drafted into the Confederate Army, Cason Howell, accompanied by his father-in-law, Allen Crook, and Allen's son, John, left by horseback in the darkness of the night. Cason left his wife, Mary Jane, and their three small children behind along with Mary Jane's mother, Margaret Crook; they made future plans to meet "on the banks of Cherry Creek at Old Arapahoe Street."

After selling the family's belongings in exchange for gold currency, Mary Jane Crook Howell and Margaret Crook buried the gold to prevent theft by Confederate soldiers who raided the premises nightly. When they were ready to come to Colorado, the women hired a 15-year-old boy to bring them and Mary Jane's three small children, Lillian, John and Margaret, west in a covered wagon. They were chased by the Confederates but Cason's wife cleverly hid the gold in the depths of a soap barrel where it was undetected. Not until they reached Cherry Creek did Mary Jane reveal the hiding place and washed thousands of dollars worth of gold from the soap barrel.

In 1867, Cason Howell acquired 160 acres of farmland in central Lakewood north of Colfax Avenue (then named South Golden Road), which extended from present-day Oak Street to about 26 th Avenue. His father-in-law, Allen Crook,and his wife, Margaret, also acquired 160 acres from what is now Colfax Avenue south to about where 10 th Avenue is now; their property was adjacent to the south of the Howell's property. Together with his wife, Mary Jane,Cason built the red brick, Italianate-Style Cason Howell House from 1870-1874 and just in time for their growing family -Cason and Mary Jane had a 4th child, Elizabeth, in 1868 and a 5th child, Edgar, in 1874. In 1874, the Howells acquired half of the Crook's property and the two families owned more than 300 acres of land in the heart of what is present-day Lakewood.

In his early years in Colorado, Cason spent time hunting, trapping and mining for gold, "when not harassed by Indians." Being on West Colfax, the principal road from Denver to the mining areas of Idaho Springs and Georgetown, the Howells had some encounters with the Indians in Lakewood. Also passing by their property were immigrants, newly-freed slaves and veterans of the recent Civil War; these pioneers were Rocky Mountain-bound to find gold and silver or to claim land under the Homestead Act. The Colorado Territory was just 10 years old and there were vast opportunities to be had.

Cason's children rode to North Denver High School on horseback. In later years, the Howells grew fruit trees and a variety of crops including alfalfa and oats and kept a dairy farm.

The Cason Howell House was placed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties and on the Lakewood Historical Society's Register of Historic Properties. In 2003, Willow Glen Senior Housing, a three-story senior housing complex was built just northwest of the Cason Howell House.

The Cason Howell House is currently owned by the City of Lakewood and presently serves as the Willow Glen Senior Housing Community Center, a clubhouse for the seniors residing next door; the two buildings are connected by a covered walkway. The original red brick Italianate-style architecture was covered with stucco and additions were made to the south and west sides.

The northwest addition of the house, including the laundry room (the original garage), storage area, and vestibule, was demolished. In the west addition of the house, both the bathroom and widened doorways were made handicap accessible. The once-shortened kitchen windows were returned to their original length to match the other existing windows of the house. The exterior window shutters were removed because they were not historically or architecturally accurate. On the south side, the sunroom addition was sinking and pulling away from the main building and it was necessary to build a new foundation; construction revealed that the home still had its original door openings and windows where the addition was placed. Cracks in the walls were repaired and the home was electrically rewired.

The small building, which was moved just southwest of the Cason Howell House, is believed to be the earliest structure on the Howell property and was used by the Howell family as temporary housing while their main house was being built; it is presently being used as a garden shed. A large willow tree, planted by Cason Howell, stands just west of the building.

An arbor which was once located on the west side of the house, was restored by the Lakewood Historical Society and placed in a newly-fashioned garden area west of the house. There was a two-story barn northwest of the house which had a cornerstone that was inscribed with the date 1894 - this historic cornerstone was placed in the garden area as well.

The Lakewood Historical Society has many recorded oral histories which have been transcribed. They contain interesting, educational and entertaining facts about Lakewood and what life was like living in early Lakewood. The society is presently working on making the tapes and transcriptions available on its website, www.historiclakewood.org For information about Lakewood Historical Society memberships and volunteering for the society's many worthy causes, please call Karen at 303.936.2793