August R. Meyer was a mining engineer and city father who built a house in 1878 for his bride, Emma. The building serves as an example of the 'Elegant Eighties' style. In 1888, the home was purchased by Daniel Healy, an immigrant from Ireland. Healy served the town of Leadville as a mail carrier and assistant postmaster before representing the city in the Colorado state legislature from 1903 to 1905.
Healy and his cousin Nellie Healy operated a boarding house out of the mansion. After Daniel Healy died in 1912, the house was given to his sister, nieces, and Nellie Healy. Nellie continued to live in and operate the boarding house until 1936. At that time, she donated the house to the historical association with the condition that it be used to benefit the city.
In 1938, Clara Gaw Norton oversaw restoration work at the house, which was paid for through grant money from the Boettcher Foundation. Norton intended for the house to become the city's first history museum. The building was later listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Today, the house is a Colorado State Historic Site operated as a Victorian era museum by History Colorado. It is located within the Leadville Historic District, which is a National Historic Landmark.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Kyle McLonely
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