623 McKinley Ave History - Laserfiche WebLink

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1932, 1942, and 1951, the Waschak family was living at 532 Lincoln while John Waschak worked as a miner at the Louisville -Lafayette Coal Co, Hi -Way Mine. Mary Waschak (center, holding volleyball) in 1941, Louisville High School Girl's Volleyball Team. Mary Waschak and Leland Ross both graduated from Louisville High School and were married in 1944. During WWII, Leland was stationed in China with the Army Air Corps of the 515t Fighter Group. Mary worked at Remington Arms, Continental Airlines, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, and Boeing Air Craft. They lived briefly in California after the war and then returned to Louisville around 1946 and purchased the property on McKinley in 1949 to build a new home. The best estimate for the construction date of 623 McKinley is 1952-53. While Mary and Leland Ross purchased the land in 1949, the 1951 Louisville Directory lists them as living at 532 Lincoln, Mary's childhood home. However, the following directory from 1952-53 lists Leland and Mary Ross at 623 McKinley. During this time Leland "Lee" Ross worked as a plumber and later as a pipefitter for Dow Chemical. Mary Ross worked at Colacci's Restaurant at 816 Main Street for 33 years. They raised two sons, Leland D. and Daniel, at 623 McKinley. It is notable that there was a significant Slovak population in Louisville and Colorado in the 1900s and there were two Slovak lodges organized by Louisville residents as early as 1896. The National Slovak Society (Lodge No. 255) and the Roman and Greek Catholic Slovak Union Association (Lodge No. 30) both provided insurance for health, death, and accident and also promoted Slovak culture and language. A 1979 Louisville Times article lists Mary Waschak and Mary Waschak, Jr. as two of the five remaining members. Dan Ross also notes in correspondence with Museum staff that both his grandmother and mother cooked many Slovak dishes. More about Louisville's Slovak and Austro-Hungarian history can be found in the Spring 2023 Louisville Historian.