John S. Hough House — Built 1877

John S. Hough House — Built 1877. . , Writing in 1937, Lake City newspaper editor William C. Blair observed that the San Juan region had “contributed its share of tragedy, romance and pathos to the history which records the incidents of all mining discovery and development, but in Hinsdale County the lights have been the strongest and the shadows the deepest. It would be hard to find anywhere else a region where the drama of human emotions has been played so long, and contained so many acts, each with its climax of lurid hope or dark despair.” , Blair, who owned this home from 1924 until his death in 1948, was a keen observer of the life and times of Lake City for a half-century. He purchased the Lake City TIMES newspaper in 1910, later changing the name of the newspaper to the SILVER WORLD, which he continued to publish until the newspaper ceased publication in 1938. , The Blair home, one of the oldest and best preserved residences in the Lake City Historic District, has itself been at the center of gala celebrations and dark despair. , It was constructed in 1877 by John S. Hough in an architectural style which has elements of the old Greek Revival with touches of Italianate, notably seen in the square bay window and porch ornamentation, which was widely popular at that date. The central portion of the residence measured 15' by 30' with two 15' by 15' wings; total cost of the structure, including an 18' by 40' barn located near the alley, was $2,000, making it one of the most expensive and stylish homes built in Lake City at that time. , Hough and his wife, Mary Prowers Hough, had only lived in the home a short time when, on July 11, 1877, their 19-year old daughter, Ida May Hough, died of bilious fever. , John Simpson Hough was one of the notable pioneers of Colorado. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he made his first trip west at the age of 15 in 1849 with his father, Silas Hough, who died of cholera during the trip. After spending a short time at his old home in Pennsylvania, Hough returned to Westport, Missouri, in 1850 and became a trader on the old Santa Fe Trail. With his brother-in-law, John W. Prowers, he at various times operated dry goods stores and forwarding commission houses at Fort Lyon, West Las Animas and Trinidad, Colorado, in the process becoming acquainted with such famous pioneers as Kit Carson, Charles Goodnight and F.X. Aubrey. , In 1876, the year in which he moved to Lake City, Hough was a member of the Colorado Constitutional Convention in Denver; in 1880, while residing in this home, he was the Democratic candidate for Colorado Governor. He was defeated by the incumbent governor, Frederick W. Pitkin. , Hough was also responsible for constructing other important Lake City buildings, including the Hough Block and First National Bank Block which are located along the Lake City Historic Loop. , In following years the Hough residence was to be closely associated with the lives of several Lake City area journalists, the first of whom was Henry C. Olney. , J.S. Hough sold his residence to Olney in 1880 and moved to a suite of rooms in his recently completed Hough Block. Olney and his wife, Eugenie Wilde Olney, were among the social elite of Lake City in the early 1880's. Prior to moving to Lake City in 1876, Olney was associated with William N. Byers as business manager of the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS in Denver. , In 1876 Olney purchased a half interest in Lake City's weekly newspaper, the SILVER WORLD, from Harry Woods and Clark L. Peyton. Woods and Peyton were the founders of the newspaper, the first weekly newspaper published on the Western Slope of Colorado, on June 19, 1875. Olney became sole proprietor of the newspaper in 1878 and continued as owner of the newspaper until 1887. , Eugenie Olney was noted for her love of literature and the fine arts; she served as one of the first teachers in Lake City's public school in 1876-77. She was also responsible for organizing Lake City's Hesperian Archery Club in 1883. , The Olneys were still mourning the loss of their two children, a son and daughter named Wilde and Willetta who„ died during infancy in 1877 and 1879, when they arranged to purchase the Hough residence. Their grief was abated, however, with the birth of twins: “As if endowed with new bodies and new life, the spirits of our angel babies are returned to us and our hearts are made happy,” read an announcement in the SILVER WORLD, “the measure of our lives is filled to the brim by the birth of Harry Wilde and Aurora Eugenia on January 20, 1880.” , The home was also the scene of a gala double wedding on February 14, 1881, when S. Adelia Crump, Mrs. Olney's sister, married attorney J. Warner Mills, and Madeleine L. Wendling became the bride of assayer Edwin D. Bouton. “The parlor was prepared for the wedding by festooning one side with green ropes of cedar, which sustained a gilded horseshoe, the arch beautifully illuminated with wax tapers,” the newspaper reported; “the dining room contained a long table, elegantly spread and embellished with bouquets and banks of flowers, the wedding cakes, pyramids of oranges and apples, and ornamental devices of sugar.” It was reported that over 80 people attended the nuptials, the guests filling the house and overflowing out into the yard where carpets had been rolled out over the snow. , After the Olneys moved to Gunnison, Colorado, in 1886, their home was rented to a variety of Lake City residents, including at different times John Finley, Charles D. Peck, Ed Quaintance, John F. Cochran, Charles Watson and R.N. Dunlap. , Zelora and Josephine Howe purchased the house from Thatcher Bros.' Miners and Merchants Bank in 1918. Zelora Howe, a miner who lived at Monarch and Creede, Colorado, before moving to Lake City, died of consumption in the home in 1920. The Howes' son, Harry, married school teacher Nan Milne here on March 25, 1921. , The home was owned by William C. and Anna (Maurer) Blair from 1924 until 1956, when it was sold to Alex Carey. Roy Scovill purchased the property in 1958.