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Saloons were an important early business in Louisville for several different reasons. One reason is it was <br />legal to purchase alcohol in Louisville both before and after Prohibition, but the towns around Louisville, <br />including Boulder, were dry for long periods of time, so Louisville was always able to draw people to its <br />bars and restaurants. Also, Louisville owed its very existence to coal mining, and miners provided steady <br />business for the saloons. Some saloons provided additional entertainment for the men by also <br />supporting and following local sports teams. Bachelor miners may have had extra time to spend in <br />saloons, but even Louisville's married men with families were customers, particularly since it has been <br />often reported that, after work, they would send their children to the saloons to have their miners' <br />lunch pails filled with beer and brought home to them. Also, the location of this saloon so close to the <br />railroad tracks, and just a short walk from the Railroad Depot just to the south side of Pine Street, no <br />doubt was a draw not only for railroad men but also for men just getting off the Interurban passenger <br />train that operated in the early 1900s. <br />Last, saloons in Colorado are known to have played a vital role in the assimilation of new immigrants, <br />and this was certainly true in a town of immigrants as Louisville was. Italian saloons such as Di Francia's <br />and Fabrizio's provided informal assistance to new Italian immigrants, while Balent's saloon would have <br />attracted Slovaks and Lackner's drew German speaking residents. A Denver Post newspaper article <br />dated January 18, 1896 reported on the incorporation of a company by Eusebio "de Francia," Antonio <br />"Fabrizzio," and Pompeo Costrilli to be called "Minatori Garabaldine di Louisville Colo." This translates as <br />"Garibaldine Miners of Louisville, Colorado," with "Garabaldine" referring to Giuseppe Garibaldi, the <br />Italian general who was one of the unifiers of Italy. Recently located information from the Denver Post <br />shows that the Garibaldi Society of Louisville marched in Denver's popular Columbus Day Parades in at <br />least 1907 and 1908. The October 12, 1908 edition of the Denver Post described Louisville's parade <br />entry in this way: <br />6 <br />