916 Main Historic Structure Assessment

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916 Main Street Hartronft Associates, pc 10.5 John & Lula Belle Madonna 2007 Historic Structure Assessment October 10, 2023 Madonna stated that he built the building for his business in 1948. He named it the Bug Dust because that was his nickname. He was first given this nickname when he started working in the local coal mines at age 17, which was in about 1935. A fellow miner who worked with John said, referring to him, "That kid ain't as big as a piece of bug dust. " The term "bug dust" means the tiny pieces of coal that would fly out from the cutting machines used in the mines to cut into the walls of coal. It was common for Louisville pool halls to have completely different clienteles at different times of the day, and the Bug Dust also followed this practice. Madonna said that starting at 9:00 a.m., he sold soft drinks, candy bars, and ice cream to local residents, some of whom would sit at the tables. Alcohol was not served in the business. The Bug Dust's business sign, seen in photos from the time, read "Bug Dust / Soft Drinks." Madonna pointed out that at that time, it was the only recreational option of that kind in Louisville. Other older residents who were teenagers at the time have also stated that it was the only place, or one of the only places, in Louisville that provided this type of service. In the evenings, gamblers congregated at the business. Not surprisingly, they would sometimes stay very late into the night and Madonna said that he occasionally would have to sleep on the premises so as to be ready to open the next morning for his local, nongambling customers. The Bug Dust primarily attracted businessmen from Denver who would come to Louisville to gamble. According to Madonna, the Bug Dust's customers commonly played poker, pinochle, and barboot or barbuit, which was a dice game. According to a 2007 interview with Louisville resident David Ferguson, the big games took place downstairs in the cellar and he said that no outsider was allowed to watch them. He stated that it was not unusual for thousands of dollars to exchange hands at a big game, and this has been confirmed in newspaper coverage. Ferguson also told the Museum staff that a way in which money was collected for "the house" was from a rake-off. The amount collected depended on the size of the game, but is believed to have ranged from about 25 cents to $1 and would be collected about every 15 to 20 minutes for which the game went on. Local residents also have recalled that the presence of gambling customers at the Bug Dust were sometimes evidenced by a large number of Cadillacs and other expensive cars parked in that vicinity of Main Street. Some remember that the cars then began to be parked a few blocks to the west, in the nearby residential neighborhood, so as not to draw the attention of the authorities. Page 10 of 51