Stepan Yegorovich Popov was born into a family of factory peasants. In 1878, by order of the Tomsk Treasury Chamber, S.Y. Popov was granted the title of 2nd guild merchant of Kuznetsk and by the age of 37 became the owner of several gold mines: Koksinsky, Sergeyevsky, Fedoseyevsky on the Koksa river flowing into Teba; Voskresensky on the Verkhnyaya Ters River; and of gold works on the rivers Pezas, Krestovka, Poldnevoy, Alchikaga flowing into Nizhnyaya Ters; Izras gold works on the Beitsa river.
In Kuznetsk Stepan Yegorovich became famous as a public figure and philanthropist. Since 1885, S.Е. Popov had worked as mayor of the city for over twenty years, but refused to take his salary. He invested his own money in the urban streets improvement, repair of public buildings, was engaged in implementing sanitary measures. He also acted as director of the Kuznetsk prisons guardianship committee. For Kuznetsk-based Hospital S.Y. Popov donated a piece of land, he helped Kuznetsk Diocese to renovate the Assumption Church. A new iconostasis was installed at the expense of the merchant in the St. Nicolas side-chapel of the Transfiguration Cathedral. S.Y. Popov was one of the initiators and donors of the construction in Kuznetsk of Pushkin People’s House.
But most of all Stepan Yegorovich assisted the city in terms of public education. The building of the county training school damaged in a fire in 1884, was repaired by the merchant at his own expense. At the same time, he was paying the rent for another house for the classes to be continued there. With S.Y. Popov’s money a two-storey stone building was built for parochial schools – for boys and girls. From 1892 until the last years of his life Stepan Yegorovich Popov was the honorary guardian of the majority of educational institutions of the city. In Kuznetsk S.Y. Popov owned one of the largest and most beautiful houses. It was in fact two two-storey wooden houses connected by a roofed passageway made of logs. His estate was located on Podgorie near the Bazar Square (now the Soviet Square), on both banks of the Kartasskiy creek. These days PDF-2 is located there. It was one of the most picturesque estates of Kuznetsk with numerous household outbuildings. A preserved natural cedar grove made the beautiful garden with pergolas and alleys even better. Big house with verandas was famous for its routs. Stepan Yegorovich loved pedigree horses very much and that’s why he kept huge stables and the best equipage in the city with 12 horses, that was known all over the neighbourhood. On the first floor of the house, he kept tenants. After the revolution, the owner of the manor did not live to see, the house was expropriated by the Soviet authorities and various institutions settled in the house. Then the estate was used as a place of resort for the people of Kuznetsk for a while. In the 1920s, when the center of the (district) was moved to Shcheglovsk (now Kemerovo), several houses, including the house of the gold producer S.Y. Popov famous for its finishing was taken to pieces and the logs were rafted down the river. For a while, where the merchant’s house once stood there remained only the gate with fine carvings of the local craftsmen.
In Kuznetsk Stepan Yegorovich became famous as a public figure and philanthropist. Since 1885, S.Е. Popov had worked as mayor of the city for over twenty years, but refused to take his salary. He invested his own money in the urban streets improvement, repair of public buildings, was engaged in implementing sanitary measures. He also acted as director of the Kuznetsk prisons guardianship committee. For Kuznetsk-based Hospital S.Y. Popov donated a piece of land, he helped Kuznetsk Diocese to renovate the Assumption Church. A new iconostasis was installed at the expense of the merchant in the St. Nicolas side-chapel of the Transfiguration Cathedral. S.Y. Popov was one of the initiators and donors of the construction in Kuznetsk of Pushkin People’s House.
But most of all Stepan Yegorovich assisted the city in terms of public education. The building of the county training school damaged in a fire in 1884, was repaired by the merchant at his own expense. At the same time, he was paying the rent for another house for the classes to be continued there. With S.Y. Popov’s money a two-storey stone building was built for parochial schools – for boys and girls. From 1892 until the last years of his life Stepan Yegorovich Popov was the honorary guardian of the majority of educational institutions of the city. In Kuznetsk S.Y. Popov owned one of the largest and most beautiful houses. It was in fact two two-storey wooden houses connected by a roofed passageway made of logs. His estate was located on Podgorie near the Bazar Square (now the Soviet Square), on both banks of the Kartasskiy creek. These days PDF-2 is located there. It was one of the most picturesque estates of Kuznetsk with numerous household outbuildings. A preserved natural cedar grove made the beautiful garden with pergolas and alleys even better. Big house with verandas was famous for its routs. Stepan Yegorovich loved pedigree horses very much and that’s why he kept huge stables and the best equipage in the city with 12 horses, that was known all over the neighbourhood. On the first floor of the house, he kept tenants. After the revolution, the owner of the manor did not live to see, the house was expropriated by the Soviet authorities and various institutions settled in the house. Then the estate was used as a place of resort for the people of Kuznetsk for a while. In the 1920s, when the center of the (district) was moved to Shcheglovsk (now Kemerovo), several houses, including the house of the gold producer S.Y. Popov famous for its finishing was taken to pieces and the logs were rafted down the river. For a while, where the merchant’s house once stood there remained only the gate with fine carvings of the local craftsmen.
