Auraria Remembered

              38   Penny Dlona
Auraria Remembered
Peggy Olona
What was your address?
I lived at 906 Curtis, and I lived at 1059 Ninth
Street, and we lived at 1242 Tenth Street. We lived at
1002 Champa, and they were all down here, but the
last two places we lived were 906 Curtis and 1059
Ninth Street.
Where were you born?
1242 Tenth Street in 1947. It was right across
the street from the Tivoli.
When did you and/or your parents move to Auraria?
We've pretty much always lived here. I think we
moved when I was seven. For about two years and
then came back. That's when we lived at 906 Curtis.
I think we lived there for about seven years, then we
moved to 1059 Ninth Street and lived there for about
two years. Around 1963 we moved.
Do you know why they moved to Auraria?
We were born here. We all lived here, my aunts
and cousins, uncles all lived down here.
From what I hear it was a pretty tight-knit, large
family?
Oh, yes.   My mother's two sisters lived here, too.
Do you remember particulars about the houses
that you lived in? What they looked like?
Oh, yes, definitely. At 906 Curtis, now 900, the
Mercantile. The stairs that we had aren't even there -
there's a porch right on the side and we used to go all
the way upstairs and immediately straight was a long
balcony, then facing west on your south side was the
kitchen. It was real big and it had a big pantry. Next
to that was the dining room, and next to that was our
living room, that's going all the way around. Next to
it was a bedroom, and another bedroom with a great
big closet. It was a comical looking closet that went
from the living room into that bedroom and next to
that was another bedroom with a huge closet that we
used for storage and for closet space, and then it went
right back to the hall and all the way around. But
now I wonder how could a family of seven or eight,
with my parents, live there? It just seems so tiny
now. When I look at it now, it didn't look like enough
room, but then it seemed huge to me.
Then, at 1059 Ninth Street, the stairs went into
a great big, long hall. I haven't been in there, so I
don't know if it's the same, although the stairs seem
like that's the way they go. I've peeked in the bottom
part of it, and as big as those rooms were, they're
little, but they really seemed big. The rooms were
just huge to me. There was an open living room.
There were no doors, then the dining room was next
to that and was real big. The kitchen was gigantic.
I'm trying to think if there was a bathroom down
there by the kitchen. I can't remember, but I think
there was, off to the left. Then there was a porch next
to the kitchen that had a door and going straight,
you'd walk up the back and there were steps. We had
a big backyard. That porch looked smaller, but I'm
sure it's the same size. We had a lot of water pipes
and stuff like that. As kids, we used to climb on the
railing on the outside of our windows and play.   As
soon as you walked up the steps, there was a bedroom. Next to that was another bedroom, next to that
was another bedroom and then there was a little
bedroom off to the side. As you turned there was a
great big bathroom.  It was real long and there was a
lot of space. There was a closet next to that, a big
walk-in closet.
I'm trying to remember the other house, I really
don't remember the one I was born in. It had gigantic
rooms, and there were two families living in it. What
was it, 1242 Tenth Street?   There was a great big
kitchen.
There were two families living in that house?
Yes.   One lived upstairs and we lived downstairs.
Do you remember their names?
My aunt lived upstairs. Her name was...let me
see, who lived up there for sure, because I know we
lived up there for a little while. Helen Pacheco. I'm
pretty sure they lived upstairs. I don't know how long
ago.