Historic Preservation Commission Agenda and Packet 2024 06 17

Home Browse Search

The house is shown in the 1909 Drumm's Wall Map of Louisville. At the time of the 1910 census, both brothers were living in the house. Both were listed as being coal miners. Boulder County gives the date of construction of the original part of this house as being 1910. This date appears on both the 1948 County Assessor card for 1209 Main and on the current Boulder County website. Since Boulder County records are sometimes in error with respect to the construction dates of historic buildings in Louisville, other evidence must also be looked to. In this case, Mike Colacci and Jim Colacci purchased the lots in 1908 and the house is shown as already being in existence on the Drumm's Wall Map of Louisville dated 1909, which was a year before the date given by the County. Therefore, the construction date is assumed to be circa 1909. According to an article the August 1994 issue of the Louisville Historian, which was based on information from the Colacci family, Mike Colacci returned to Italy when the 1910 mine strike started in the Louisville area and was immediately drafted into the Italian Army. He ended up serving for three years, including time served in Ethiopia, before returning to Louisville. It is not known whether Jim Colacci went through the same experience, but both brothers are listed in the Louisville directory for 1916 as being back at the house at 1209 Main by that year. According to the same article, Mike and Jim Colacci tried starting a dairy business together, but it failed during the agricultural depression of 1919. In 1916, Mike Colacci married Mary larussi (1899-1949). She had come with her family from Italy in 1907 and they lived on the 1200 block of La Farge Ave., the block behind 1209 Main. At the time of their marriage, she was 16 and he was 29. They had two sons, Joe and Anthony, who themselves became important figures in Louisville's "spaghetti economy" of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s in particular, with Joe operating the Blue Parrot Restaurant and Anthony operating Colacci's Restaurant; The 1920 census shows Mike and Mary Colacci, and their young sons Joe and Anthony, living at 1209 Main. Mike was listed as being a coal miner, but the couple by then had already started the business that would become the Blue Parrot. Jim Colacci could not be located in the 1920 census. In the 1920s, Mike and Mary Colacci and their sons had moved down Main Street to live by the Blue Parrot, where they could tend to their growing restaurant business. In 1922, Mike Colacci's brother, Jim, who was still the co-owner and who had lived in the house earlier, purchased Mike's half -ownership interest. He became the full owner and made it his residence. Both Colacci brothers were active bootleggers during Colorado's Prohibition, which lasted from 1916 until 1933. During that period, Colorado KKK members were active participants in the enforcement of Prohibition laws as a way to control immigrants, particularly Catholic immigrants, of whom there were many in Louisville. The lead article of the Fall 2022 issue of the Louisville Historian describes this context and details Mike Colacci's bootlegging activities and how it was his ability to pay off a loan with proceeds from illegal sales of alcohol that made it possible for the Blue Parrot Restaurant to survive and succeed. Bootlegging was risky, but could be lucrative. The Lafayette Leader newspaper on Sept. 26, 1924 featured the following article on its front page, describing a raid on what in all likelihood was 1209 Main (given the lack of evidence that Jim 1209 Main Street Page