701 Walnut St Historic Survey - Laserfiche WebLink

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Resource Number: 5BL 11323 Temporary Resource Number: 157508405014 There is some question as to whether the current house at 701 Walnut is the original house, due to the fact that it does not appear on the 1909 Drumm's Wall Map. Boulder County lists the current house as having been built in 1900, and certainly the Lynch family is listed as living in this neighborhood in census records for both 1900 and 1910, with a directory listing putting them at this exact intersection in 1904. However, for some reason, the 1909 Drumm's Wall Map of Louisville does not indicate a structure on these lots for that year. It is not known whether an earlier house might have been torn down and another constructed almost immediately afterwards, or if it was simply due to an error that a structure was not shown on the map. (Information gathered from a few relatives of the Madonna family that was to own it later, as to what they were told regarding when the house was built, is inconclusive on this point.) The house at 701 Walnut does appear in the correct location on the Methodist Church Map of Louisville that was made in circa 1923-25. The property at 701 Walnut at some point became the property of the State of Colorado and was transferred to a new owner in 1918. This may have been related to the death of Thomas Lynch between 1910 and 1920. In 1918, this property was purchased by John Madonna Sr. The Madonna name is sometimes given as "Madone" in Louisville directories. The Madonna family would end up owning and living in this house for ninety-one years. John Madonna and Margaret (sometimes listed as Marguerite or Margarita) Perna were both born in Italy, John in 1886 and Margaret in 1887. Their families both came to the area of Coal Creek in Fremont County. Records indicate that John began to work in the coal mines at the age of 13, which was his age when he first arrived in the US. John and Margaret married in 1910 and came to Louisville in 1913. John continued to work as a coal miner in the Louisville area. When the house was purchased in 1918, 701 Walnut became the Madonna family home. It is remembered of John and Margaret that they spoke Italian, and their English was heavily accented. John and Margaret had ten surviving children, several of whom were born in this house. Their children were: Elizabeth, Flora (Banyai), Angie (Fenton), John Jr., Rose (D'Amato), Mary (Smith), Peter, Phillip, William, and Janet (Buccholz). The children went to work at young ages. Records indicate that at least John Jr. and Peter served in World War II. Given the twelve people in the family, it is understandable that the yard of the home was primarily taken up with a large vegetable garden and fruit trees. Chicken were also raised. Items from stores were often purchased on credit, according to a family member. The family was involved in the St. Louis Church, which until the early 1940s was located a very short distance from 701 Walnut, at the corner of La Farge and Walnut (833 La Farge, 5BL7994). According to a Madonna relative, the basement of the house was dug after the house was already there. The cooking and canning for the family took place on a large stove in the basement. It is also well remembered by several current Louisville residents that John Madonna made wine in the basement. Grapes were crushed in a wine press and the skins fed to the chickens. In fact, in the 1920s, the Madonna family would share with five to nine other families the costs of a box car full of grapes brought from California to Louisville. It has been stated by a Madonna family member that one box car of grapes would result in there being several hundred gallons of wine for these families for a year, and that the Madonna family wine press was used to make thousands of gallons of wine in the cellar of 701 Walnut over the years. Margaret prepared traditional Italian foods for her large family. Pizzelle batter had to be mixed in a large galvanized tub so that there would be enough. She used an instrument called a chitarra to cut homemade pasta by hand. According to an oral history of son Pete Madonna conducted in 1995, John Madonna Sr. worked as a coal miner for fifty-seven years. He worked on digging some of the shafts for some area mines and had numerous injuries over the years. John Sr. died in 1971, and Margaret in 1980. Several of the ten Madonna children stayed in Louisville. Daughter Rose married Joe D'Amato and they operated Joe's Fruit Store at 920 Main St. (5BL8047) Son Pete Madonna ran the store after Joe passed away. The recipe for the popular sausage at Joe's was the Madonna family recipe, according to the oral history of Pete Madonna. Son John Jr. owned and operated the Bugdust Pool Hall next door to Joe's at 916 Main St (5BL8015). 4