1201 LaFarge Ave History - Laserfiche WebLink

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worked as a miner. He was born in Italy in 1896, immigrated in 1913, and died in 1993. Josephine Negri was born in Colorado to Italian parents in 1900 and died in 1995. The Negris moved to Louisville from southern Colorado in the 1920s with their two sons, John and Mike. They acquired the parcel of several lots from Rosie Goldstein in 1928 and began to live in the only house on the parcel, which is now 1201 La Farge. This entire parcel started with Lot 25 (1201 LaFarge) on the northwest corner of LaFarge and Caledonia. It was under the Negris' ownership that the parcel came to have three houses on it and not just the one at 1201. The 1930 and 1940 census records show that the Negri family lived in this house, and this is also confirmed by Louisville directories. It is believed that the only time during their ownership that they did not live at 1201 La Farge was when the family briefly operated a liquor store, and lived at, what is now the Empire Lounge & Restaurant at 816 Main in around 1936. According to John Negri, they were not able to successfully continue to operate the store due to competition from Louisville bars that also sold bottled liquor. Recently, John Negri gave the Historical Museum information on changes that the Negri family made to the house when they purchased it in 1928. For example, a back porch was removed and the back of the house was expanded to include a kitchen and breakfast nook. In addition, an actual covered porch was added to the area of the front of the house that had previously been a flat deck with no roof. Much of this work was done in the summers when local mines closed. Aldo Negri was part of a team of men who would remodel houses in the summer, and they and the Negri sons did the work on the Negri house. According to John Negri, others on this informal team included Art Ohanion, Joe Ross, and others. Another change that was made to the house by the Negri family was to dig out the basement beyond the small cellar room that was already there. This they did, one bucket of dirt at a time. According to son John Negri, the house was jacked up so that they could pour concrete and make walls for the basement. They dug the edges first, then dug out the middle, and put the dirt in the empty lots just to the north that they owned. (This is where they grew alfalfa that they fed to rabbits that they raised for food.) When they were done with the basement, brothers John and Mike Negri shared a bedroom there. The Negri family raised not only rabbits but also chickens on their property, and had a large garden. In the winter, they grew pascal celery, lettuce, and cabbage. They butchered pigs in the fall and made sausage to be preserved in lard in a porcelain crock in the basement. Like many other Italian families in Louisville, they also made their own wine and beer. 3