1145 Clarkson Street was built in 1897 for Judge Julius B. Bissell. Bissell was born in Connecticut in 1839 and served in the Civil War, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. He practiced law in New York City following the war, moving west to Des Moines in 1869 and to Leadville in 1878 before coming to Denver. Bissell, his wife Julia, and children Elizabeth and George lived in this house until 1902.
The house was sold to real estate developer D. Carson Fleming in 1902 or 1903, who then sold it to Asa and Amelia Middaugh in 1904. Asa F. Middaugh was born in Pennsylvania around 1840 and arrived in Denver in 1860 with an ox-train. The following year, he discovered a coal vein west of Denver and hauled the first coal into the city. In 1865, Middaugh acquired 160 acres of land in West Denver, on the northeast corner of which stood the shops of the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad. He donated the site to the railroad when the railroad was under construction. Other parts of the Middaugh homestead became Fletcher’s addition and Middaugh’s addition. Middaugh’s addition is located at the south end of the Union Pacific railroad’s Burnham Yards. The Middaugh family lived at 1145 Clarkson until 1922, selling it in 1923 to Otto and Emma Oberhoff.
