Take a peek inside a historic Meeker home

MEEKER | “If only these walls could talk!” It’s a common phrase that holds true for 613 Park Ave. in Meeker. Many who frequent downtown Meeker have wondered at one point or another, “What is this looming house on the corner with the gabled roof and wood cladding?” This Saturday, all who’ve been curious about this cornerstone home will have a chance to peek inside for themselves during an open house hosted by Streamline Realty at 10 a.m.

With historical buildings, questions like “who built it?” and “what role did they serve in our small town?” and “how different were their lives from ours?” stir the imagination. Thanks to some research by genealogist Ed Peck, some of those questions have been answered.

The house was originally built by the Neal family. Joseph Neal and his wife Emma decided they wanted to move into town from Piceance Creek. Joseph was a teacher and rancher. They moved into town when their daughter Melba Virginia turned 10. We can only guess why they decided to make their move from their ranch on the Dry Fork into town, but 613 Park became the childhood home of Virginia Neal. As an adult, Virginia and her husband James Blue had a successful real estate company in Denver. Virginia went on to become the first female Treasurer of the State of Colorado. 

The Neal home was designed by prominent Denver architect William Norman Bowman. Bowman designed the house in the Craftsman-style that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s in Denver and California. Bowman also designed the 1917 Moffat County Courthouse, and the Mountain Bell building in Denver.

Joseph Neal became president of the First State Bank of Meeker and eventually bought out his partner, Edmund Pauls. Neal served as bank president until 1932. He also served as president of the Rio Blanco Cattlemen’s Association and was the treasurer of the Colorado Stock Growers and Feeders Association for 15 years and helped organize the White River Museum. Emma was very active around town during WWI with the local Red Cross, and she was an early member of the historical society.  

In October of 1950, Neal’s nephew, Joseph Wert Spence, and Spence’s wife Jennie bought the Neal House. Spence learned the cattle business from his uncle, and married Jennie Mary Brown from Meeker in 1918. Jennie was an elementary school teacher and finished her B.A degree in 1957 at the age of 60. Spence served as president of the Rio Blanco Cattlemen’s Association and many other Meeker community organizations. In later years, Jennie took up painting and their home on Park Ave. was filled with her art.

In 1960, William Elmer Sides with his wife Bernice VanCleave Sides bought the house. William — Bill — Sides was no stranger to the house. In the 1930 census, William E. Sides is listed as living in the Neal house as a single male boarder, teaching high school. Sides came to Meeker in 1927. He taught in RBC High School as a commercial (business) instructor and principal for 14 years before testing his commercial teaching knowledge by becoming a businessman. He owned the Sides Motor Co. for 10 years before selling out. In 1945, the Sides purchased Strehlke’s Drug Store and operated it as Sides’ Rexall Drug at 6th and Main until 1969 when he retired.

The most recent owner of the home was local attorney Joe Fennessy, who bought the house in 1994 from the remaining heirs of the Sides family. Although Fennessy made many key upgrades to the home, including new wiring and plumbing, he was committed to keeping this beautiful home the cornerstone of historic downtown Meeker. He both resided in the home and ran his law office from the residence until he passed in 2022. Now it is time for the next chapter to be written in the story of this home.

Thanks to the Rio Blanco County Historical Society, the This Is What I Remember books, Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, Cultural Resource Historians, RBC Assessor, RBC Treasurer, RBC Clerk, Rio Blanco Abstract Co., Meeker Regional Library, and Sparky Pappas. 

Special to the Herald Times