2002 Spruce St. - Frances Black

Frances Black came to Boulder from Kentucky in 1880 with her four children, the youngest only six years old at the time. She was able to buy the handsome house at 2002 Spruce Street. She was a widow and worked hard as a laundress, and was also able in 1881 to buy the house around the corner at 2103 Pearl Street as a rental property that helped bring in more income.

Like many of Boulder’s early Black residents, Frances was good at saving money, paving the way for a good life away from the Jim Crow atmosphere of the South. She passed away at age 60 in 1901 and is buried in the Columbia Cemetery. She left the properties to her son William who kept them until 1908. This house later became the home of Forest Crossen, a noted Boulder historian who wrote about Boulder County railroads. Crossen lived here until his death in 1992.

Directions to Stop 22: Walk west on Spruce Street to 18th Street. Turn left [south] on 18th Street and walk to Pearl Street. Stop 22 is on the northwest corner of 18th and Pearl streets.