Those Places Thursday: Denver Colorado and the Broida Family
➡ Broida Family
Today we will be looking at search results from the Denver Public Library, with a few additional sources to verify and render the picture more complete.
John Broida
In 1900, John Broida was listed as living at 1655 Eliot per the Denver City Directory.
The 1900 US Federal Census listed John, Gussie/Gitel, and two sons at 1655 Eliot Street: Joseph J. Broida, age 18, working as a clerk in a clothing house, and little Harry (Harold), just two years old. John was listed as a Dry Goods Merchant.
The Broidas rented their home, but also had four boarders living with them- a husband and wife with their two children. The boarders were born in Russia with their children born in New York. Samuel Bobresky, age 28, had immigrated to the US just three years before, and was a tailor- appropriate since John worked in men’s furnishings (clothing, accessories).
Ancestry.com’s city directories list John Broida in 1901 at the same address, with his occupation, which meant men’s clothing.
Theodore “Dave” Broida
In 1920, Corbett & Ballenger’s 48th Annual Denver City Directory listed “Broida & Eisen Furniture Co.” at 1860 Stout under the heading, “Furniture.” Dave Broida was partners with S. Eisen Jr.
Dave and Lucy were residing at 1746 Geneva in Aurora. The 1920 US Federal Census indicates they were living with Lucy’s parents, Joseph and Sarah Shatzke, and had an almost two year old son, Gerald Broida.
In 1923, Dave and Lucy Broida were residing at 2620 West 23rd Avenue in Denver, and their business of second hand goods was located at 1959 Champa.
The above was a listing under “Second-Hand Goods,” on p. 402, in the 1923 Corbett & Ballenger’s 51st Annual Denver City Directory; they were also listed in the residence section:
Interestingly, in 1923 on p. 402 under Second-Hand Goods, S. Eisen Jr is listed at 1860 Stout. The joint venture, ‘Broida & Eisen Furniture Co,’ in 1920, apparently had dissolved by 1923. (And I was reminded to not just glean only the exact information one is looking for- perusing other parts of the page may reveal some gems like this!)
The Denver Public Library also houses Denver Household Directories and Street Guides, which are organized by address and indicate who was living there or the name of the business at that address. In those directories, a search for “Broida” shows us the addresses and sometimes even the occupations of Theodore “Dave” Broida and his wife, Lucy M. Shatzke Broida:
1926: grocer, living at 1661 Williams (p. 626)
1927-29: still living at 1661 Williams
1931: 4042 Clay
1933: 3901 Clay
1934: 4439 Zuni
1937: still at 4439 Zuni
If one Googles the address, 4439 Zuni comes up with a map and street view of their Craftsman bungalow. One can also check zillow.com or trulia.com to learn more about the house, including current number of bedrooms, baths, square footage, etc. Zillow states the Zuni house was built in 1907, so basically it is the same house that Dave and Lucy lived in 78 years ago. (They would be very surprised that it sold for over $322,00!) One can look at their two residences on Clay (4042 built in 1926, 3901 built 1923) and still see those houses, but 1661 Williams has apparently been razed and an apartment building and parking lot placed where their house had been.
The home of John and Gitel Broida in 1900, at 1655 Eliot St., no longer exists- it is now a part of the Mile High Stadium complex.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) 1900 Corbett & Ballenger’s 28th Annual Denver City Directory, p. 237: http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16079coll28/id/33385/rec/2
After doing a search on the website, a tab will be above the reduced-size document with your search term and how many hits were found in the document. Use the scroll box for the pages of the book that is on the right side of the screen. As you scroll, pages with hits for your search term will have a red, “1 found” (or more) listed after it; just click on that page to go to it. I have not figured out how to get rid of the red highlighting, unfortunately.
2) 1900 US Federal Census for John Broida, Head of Household, in Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado: Year: 1900; Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Roll: 120; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0126; FHL microfilm: 1240122
3) 1901 Denver City Directory entry for John Broida: Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
4) 1920 Corbett & Ballenger’s 48th Annual Denver City Directory, p. 270, 717 for Broida & Eisen Furniture: http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16079coll28/id/25728/rec/3
5) 1920 US Federal Census for Joseph Shatzke, Head of Household: Year: 1920; Census Place: Aurora, Adams, Colorado; Roll: T625_155; Page: 18B; Enumeration District: 8; Image: 207
6) 1923 Corbett & Ballenger’s 51st Annual Denver City Directory, p. 402 for Theodore “Dave” Broida: rary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16079coll28/id/28024/rec/1
7) No financial interest, etc. in any of the commercial sites listed- I just like using them to see our ancestor’s homes! One can also save an image of the house to compare to photos that you may have but not know where they were taken. Of course, houses change over 70-100+ years, but you might still be able to tell if it is the same house as what is on Zillow or Trulia, or even on Google.
Please contact us if you would like a higher resolution image.
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