809 Main St History - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Bridget Bacon, Louisville Historical Museum Department of Library & Museum Services City of Louisville, Colorado August 2018 `; Cityof Om Louisville COLORADO • SINCE 1878 809 Main St. History Legal Description: North 1/2 of Lot 12, Block 5, Original Louisville Year of Construction: circa 1900 Summary: This small building has been used as a restaurant & bar type of establishment on Main Street for about 100 years. Before that, records and photos indicate, the current building was a barber shop, second hand store and, possibly, a furniture store. It is mainly associated with Celeste Romano, who was a member of Louisville's Italian community. He and his wife, and then also their daughters, operated a pool hall / bar/ restaurant / ice cream parlor for about 50 years, from 1919 (or earlier) until 1968. It is well remembered as having been a community gathering place called "Celeste's" for Louisville residents of all ages. Miners frequented the bar and pool hall, while families came for the ice cream. More recently, it was Pasquale's, Druids Arms, and the Waterloo. History of Site Prior to Current Building Bridget Hanley purchased this half -lot from Louis Nawatny in 1879, the year after Louisville was established. She is shown in the 1880 federal census and the 1885 state census as living in the vicinity of this part of Main Street with her adult sons, John and Michael, who worked as coal miners. The census records for 1880 and 1885 show that Bridget Hanley (or Henley) was born in Ireland in 1811 or 1812. Research conducted for the Louisville Historical Museum in 2012 has shown that she was likely the earliest -born person to have lived in the town of Louisville, based on available records. Unfortunately, we don't know what happened to Bridget Hanley and her sons or how long they stayed in Louisville. The following excerpt from the 1893 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map (which was one of three such maps for Louisville, with the other two having been done for the Louisville commercial district in 1900 and 1908) shows that there was a small dwelling on the parcel in question at that time that was presumably the Hanley residence. It was small and didn't cover the entire frontage of the parcel, and it was set back from Main Street, which would be to the right on the map: 1