Who Was Denver's "Mullen"?

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Just curious to see who this man was. Same name.

Am interested to know if Mr Mullen had any interests in flour or bean elevators / warehouses in southwest Colorado - specifically Dove Creek. There is currently a bean elevator in Dove Creek that has in it's pedigree: Colorado Milling and Elevator Company. Did he have any association with either the Peak or Midland Brands of beans? Could he have had any business interests with a Mr. Owens or a Mr. Simpson from Colorado Springs?

I'm writing a piece on the bean industry.

Thanks.

The statement: "After Mullen's death, his daughters established the Mullen Home for Boys in his memory.." is a little bit deceiving. J.K. and Catherine started the project to open a home for orphaned boys, but both died before the project was completed. Their daughters (and husbands) completed the project....the home is now known as Mullen High School. Also, yes, J.K. and Catherine had 5 daughters, but you failed to mention that Anna died at the age of four....

Thank you for your comments, Katherine. The format of our blog posts calls for brevity and doesn't always allow for the capture of a story's interesting details. Comments like yours really add so much to the story. Thank you!

I am moving into a farmhouse, that is reputed to be a Mullen homestead.
The property is just north of Mullen High School.
The story is, the house and hundred year old barn ( which I saved despite a large fire)
sat at the center of a large dairy farm.
Love to know more about this history.

The address is 3425 S Knox Ct

Thanks for your comment, George!

The Mullen family purchased their "homestead" at Ninth and Lawrence Streets in 1878. They lived in the two-story Italianate home for 29 years.

J. K. Mullen's heirs (through the Mullen Benevolent Foundation) purchased the Shirley Farms Dairy, a 900-acre farm located at 3601 South Lowell Boulevard, in 1931. The farm was turned into a vocational boarding school for boys. In 1956, the boarding school closed and began operating as J. K. Mullen High School. Your property at 3425 S. Knox Court may have been part of the original Shirley farm which became the boarding school.

If would like to explore your property's history further, check out our Building History Tutorial online. We also highly recommend visiting DPL's Western History and Genealogy Department. Reference staff will be happy to help you get started with your research!

In reply to by Katie Rudolph

Thanks for you interest in local history.
My post is from last year.
Still investigating the property.
Can't find much, to far out for Denver Plat books.
Thanks for the info about Shirley, haven't found anything about that either.
Perhaps if you more info, you can share.

Thanks again, Katie

John Mullen provided $10,000 in 1888 to build St. Leo's Catholic Church so the English-speaking Irish-Americans did not have to attend Mass in German at nearby St. Elisabeth's. As Mullen and his fellow Irish Catholics became affluent and moved out of the neighborhood, the St. Leo's congregation dwindled.

Ironically, newer Latinx residents were attending English-Speaking Masses at St. Leo's and approached Mrs. Mullen to ask if she would donate their old home as a new church site for St. Cajetan parish. This was the death-knell for St. Leo's, which was sold and torn down in the 1930s.

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