Laserfiche WebLink
Fenolias were neighbors living at 1000 and 1008 Jefferson until 1938, when the Fenolia <br />purchased 1000 Jefferson from Ross Johnston and resold it the next year.) <br />Fenolia Family Ownership of Property, 1924-1988 <br />By a deed recorded in 1924, James Fenolia (1896-1971) and Celia Bottinelli Fenolia <br />(1902-1988) purchased the parcel now known as 1008 Jefferson. According to the <br />County Assessor website, the 1948 County Assessor card for this property, and other <br />sources, construction on the house finished in 1925. <br />James "Jim" Fenolia was born in 1896 as the youngest of six children of Italian <br />immigrants Baptiste Fenolia and Louise Buffo Fenolia. Records show that the name was <br />originally spelled "Fenoglia" and "Fenoglio." They were among Louisville's earliest Italian <br />residents, and Baptiste worked as both a coal miner and as a farmer in the area of what <br />is now the Carolyn Holmberg Preserve at Rock Creek Farm (now owned by Boulder <br />County). According to Jim and Celia's son, Ronald "Ron" Fenolia (1923-2011), Jim was <br />born on that farm. Jim then grew up at 920 La Farge Ave. The 800 and 900 blocks of La <br />Farge had a high number of northern Italian residents in the early 1900s. In fact, Ron <br />Fenolia said that La Farge Avenue was "about 90% Italians." <br />According to Ron, Jim went to work at the Sunnyside Mine starting at age 11, in about <br />1907. As a young man before he married in 1922, he worked at both mining and <br />farming. He was also a member of the Louisville Fire Department during that time, <br />including being member of the Louisville hose team that participated in competitions <br />with hose teams from other fire departments. <br />Celia Bottinelli was born in 1902 to Baptiste Bottinelli and Clementina Biella Bottinelli. <br />Baptiste was a bricklayer and coal miner. Like the Fenolias, they were also some of the <br />earliest Italian -born residents of the Louisville area, and like the Fenolias, they also lived <br />in on La Farge Ave. (at 822 La Farge). <br />Jim and Celia married in 1922 and had their son, Ron, in 1923. After working as a miner <br />for several years and receiving a mine injury, Jim then worked as the Louisville Town <br />Clerk from about 1927 to 1934. According to his son, he also served as a magistrate <br />during this period. <br />Jim Fenolia received his first commission as Postmaster in 1936. In 1940, he took his <br />Civil Service examination and received his permanent appointment as Postmaster. He <br />was Louisville's sixth Postmaster and his term ended up lasting nearly 29 years, from <br />1936 to the end of 1964. <br />2 <br />