Item #3009 H.J. Kruse Dealer in Groceries Provisions Tobacco Cigars Gregory St. Central City, Col. W. H. Reed, photog.
H.J. Kruse Dealer in Groceries Provisions Tobacco Cigars Gregory St. Central City, Col.

Sign up to receive email notices of recent acquisitions.

Reed, W.H. [photog].

H.J. Kruse Dealer in Groceries Provisions Tobacco Cigars Gregory St. Central City, Col.

Black Hawk, Colorado: McKenney’s Gallery of Art, [ca. 1870]. Carte-de-visite, albumen print on paperboard mount, 61 x 100 mm overall.

A rare photographic trade card for Henry J. Kruse, a German emigre drawn to Colorado in 1860 at the age of 22 by the lure of the gold fields.

Failing to strike it rich, Kruse abandoned mining and took up baking, thus launching a career that would see him emerge as a major dealer in dry goods and a force in Colorado Politics. He became a Central City alderman in 1867, was elected mayor in 1874, and served as a member of the state’s first legislature. Following his retirement from civic life Kruse took up residence in Denver. He is buried in Central City.

Pictured here is Kruse’s substantial establishment, occupying two buildings on one city block. One of these is identified as “Colorado Bakery” and signs on the other building read “Wines & Liquor” and “Groceries & Provisions.”

According to Carl Mautz, William H. Reed and Albert S. McKenney were partners from 1870 to 1874 in Central City, Denver, and Georgetown. The back-stamp on the present cdv indicates that they were active in Black Hawk as well.

CONDITION: Good, small stain to lower left, lightly soiled and toned, small crease at upper left corner of photo.

REFERENCES: Mautz, Carl. Biographies of Western Photographers (Nevada City, 2018), p. 205.

Item #3009

Sold

See all items in Broadsides & Ephemera
See all items by W. H. Reed, photog