1975 – Fort Collins Yesterdays – Page 142 – Detailed Life Story of Louis Dauth ⧉

Paint sometimes lasts a long time at high, dry altitudes. Damm's bakery advertisement painted on the north wall of the Colorado Building at 122 South College has weathered for decades since the bakery itself left that locality in 1936. Albert Damm, a German immigrant, first opened a shop in 1889 on Linden Avenue. The family business went through the horse and wagon stage and changed to motorized vehicles before it succumbed to the depression of the 1930's. Though Damm's bakery was old, it was not the first specialty shop in that field to serve Fort Collins citizens. Louis Dauth from the Rhineland had come to Colorado in the 1870’s. He was an honored veteran of the Franco-Prussian War. His medals included the Iron Cross. He opened a bakery in Fort Collins in 1877 because he expected the town to prosper with its new railroad. In 1878 his year business was estimated at $4,500.00 tallying higher than a blacksmith, a harness maker, and a saloon keeper, all of whose services might have seemed more essential for that era. He added an icebox and other new improvements to the bakery in 1878. Dauth got along well with his American friends, many of whom were Civil War veterans. He served as alderman for the fourth ward in 1884 when A. L Emigh was mayor. With Reed, a jeweler, he built the Reed & Dauth Block at 223 Linden in 1881, a building now occupied by the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Room and Senior Citizen Drop-In Center. When new, it was considered a handsome addition to Linden Avenue for it was two-story and brick with “beautiful Norman-arched windows.” ⧉