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Grant-Humphreys Mansion
The Grant-Humphreys Mansion in
Denver, Colorado is a neoclassical style mansion that was designed
by Boal and Harnois, in 1902 for James Benton Grant after he left
his one term as the governor of the state during 1883-1885. It has
been the home of two families, the first being the Grants, who was
best known for his part in the ore smelting industry, the first one
being located in Leadville and the second in Denver, in which his
Grant Smelting Company had the biggest stack in the nation and 3rd
biggest in the world; just 2 miles from downtown. Grant's wife, Mary
Matteson Goodell, was well known in the society of Denver, where she
was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, as well as
being instrumental in starting a house for destitute children. After
James passed on in 1911, Mary would live in the house for another
six years, and then sold it to Albert E. Humphreys. The mansion was
added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. A. E.
Humphreys is recalled as the "Wildcatter Deluxe" and the "King of
the Wildcatters" since he had successfully found oil in Texas,
Wyoming and Oklahoma. He is also remembered for this philanthropic
endeavors that had been shared by his wife, Alice. They arrived in
Denver in 1898 with two sons, Ira and Albert E. Jr. Ira married
Lucille Pattison, and they lived with the older Humphreys in the
mansion until they passed on. Ira was a mechanical genius, and A. E.
was the manager of the family oil business. Both of them were
intrigued with airplanes, and opened the first commercial airport in
the city in 1918 in North Park Hill, ten years before the city's
municipal airport that would later become Stapleton International
Airport. In 1919, Ira Boyd "Bumps" Humphreys started the
Curtiss-Humphreys Airplane Company, and in 1941, he invented the
Humphreys Spiral Concentrator that was used a lot in the mining
industry for the separating of minerals and heavy metals that exists
in low grade ores. In 1969, they were both inducted into the
Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame that is located in the Colorado
Aviation Historical Society's Heritage Hall at the Wings Over the
Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver, Colorado. In 1976, the
Colorado Historical Society gained the mansion at the bequest of the
late Ira Boyd Humphreys that still had the original damask wall
coverings that soon became deteriorated and had to be replaced.
The home is a 30 room Beaux-arts mansion with an eclectic mix of
materials that have a brick facade, terra cotta balustrades, 20 foot
columns and projecting balconies.
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