Trinidad, Colorado - A Historic Building Survey
Packer Building
Map location #17.
The Packer Building, called after John Orlano Packer, a Union war veteran and graduate of the University of Albany Law School who migrated to Trinidad from Kansas in 1871, has occupied its site on the 200 block North Commercial since 1884. It is one of the original "fire-proof" buildings in the city. It is said to have fire-proof walls between each store so that should one burn, the others would not be affected.
Classified as Western Victorian, the facade is sandstone with rusticated sandstone trim. The cornice is tin. Much of the interior of the building has been kept intact. The handrail and balusters on the stairway, the newel post of oak, and the tin ceilings in two of the stores have all been retained.
In the first photograph the Packer Building appears in the right center. The picture was taken in the early 1890's. The second photograph was taken in July, 1970.
Legal Description: Part of Lots 5, 6, 14, 22, 23, and 24; Block 126 OTS.
Figure 36 Packer Building
