2220 Pine St. - Henry and Fannie Stevens

Henry Stevens, whose portrait is the third photo above, lived in this home until his death in 1945. He was born into slavery in Missouri in 1863 and moved to Boulder in 1879. He was one of Boulder’s first Black residents, coming from Missouri at age 14, working for photographer named J. H. Streeter.

Henry married Fannie Vince on January 24th, 1882, the same year he became employed as janitor at the First National Bank, located at the corner of Broadway and Pearl. For 50 years, Henry was more than just a janitor. He did all kinds of jobs. He stated, “More than once, I moved silver bricks to the windows for displays and then taken them back to the vaults. Boulder was a booming town back then, with ore wagons rattling into town all day long. I was brought up to do my work and let things alone”.

In 1884, along with his friends James Alexander, Oscar White, Henry Wallace, and Lewis Sheets, he became a trustee of the Allen Chapel of the African Methodist Episcopal Church [Stop 22]. These gentlemen purchased a plot of land in east Boulder (now 18th and Pearl) from James Maxwell to build the church which became the center of the African American community in Boulder.

Stevens married a second time at age 63 or 64 [he was uncertain of the month of his birth] in 1927 to Mrs. Amanda Galloway of West Virginia who survived him.

Directions to Stop 21: Continue walking west on Pine Street. Turn left [south] on 20th Street and walk to the next intersection at Spruce Street. Stop 21 is on the southeast corner of that intersection.