Good Time in Globeville

The photos say it best - Globeville knows how to throw a great festival. Father Alex Vallens of Holy Transfiguration of Christ Orthodox Cathedral gave a brief history of the church and explained the iconostas, or icon screen, originally built by parishioners in 1904 in the late 19th century Russian style. Outside, vendors offered ethnic foods from Eastern Europe, Russia, Italy and Mexico, as well as crafts, gifts and an icon demonstration. Sunday's entertainment included Planina, singing songs of Eastern Europe, and enthusiastic performances by children in native dress from the Science, Art & Sport Center for Children. Grupo Folklorico Sabor Latino explained the meaning and construction of each part of their costumes and the meaning in each dance.

Mark the third weekend in July for next year's festival.

Celebrating Globeville

Begin the weekend of celebrating Globeville's rich history at Riverside Cemetery for Walk-A-Bout: "The Other Side of Riverside" at 9:00 am Saturday, July 17. Historian Jeff Stoffel will honor Riverside's Globeville residents with a special focus on the Orthodox section of the cemetery. The walk begins at Riverside's office at 9 am and will conclude at 11 am. Bring water, wear sunscreen and your walking shoes. Remember that there are no facilities at Riverside. This event is free, but will be limited to 20 people, so make a reservation at events@friendsofriversidecemetery.org

Then follow the aroma of roasting lamb to the 7th Annual “Orthodox Food Festival and Old Globeville Days” on Saturday, July 17 and Sunday, July 18 at Argo Park, 349 E 47th Avenue (at Logan Street) in Denver. Sample food from Russia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Eritrea, Greece, and Mexico while enjoying live music, activities for the children, entertainment and dance. Visit with your neighbors in the shade of the canopy, tour the craft booths or see a demonstration of iconography. Don't miss an opportunity to tour the beautiful 112-year-old Orthodox Cathedral, a historic landmark.

Saturday festivities will run from 11:00 am until 10:00 pm; on Sunday, the festival is open from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Admission is free.

For information, visit http://orthodoxfoodfestival.wetpaint.com/ or www.transfigcathedral.org or call 303-294-0938

Top photo, the beautiful Orthodox section of Riverside Cemetery

Second photo, lamb roasting at the 2009 celebration

Third photo, crafts and food from the 2009 evvent

Fourth photo, Fotia from Hellenic Dance Academy of Denver. All photos by Mary Lou Egan

Ironton School

The Ironton School at 36th and Delgany Street was designed by architect John J. Huddart, a native of England who moved to Denver in 1882. Built in 1890, the school served children of workers at the Grant and Globe Smelters and the Union Pacific shops, who were mainly German, Swedish, Scotch, Irish and Slavs. As more industry moved into the neighborhood, families moved out of the area, the school was closed and students transferred to Garden Place School in 1937. The building then served as a temporary home to students of Annunciation Catholic Parish for two years while repair work was being done on the parish school. Ironton found new life as a WPA Sewing Center for several years and was then purchased by a private party and converted into apartments. This handsome building was demolished in 1955 and the site is now home to one of Denver's auto impound lots.

Photo of Ironton School, Denver Public Library

Photo of impound lot, Mary Lou Egan

The Globeville School

Three large smelters, the Boston and Colorado, the Omaha and Grant and the Globe, operated in Globeville between 1878 and 1889 and workers moved to the town seeking jobs. As the population grew, the region evolved from a rural outpost to an industrial village and the small country schools that dotted the area became inadequate. The Globeville School was built on the corner of 51st and Washington in 1890 on land belonging to the Globe Smelter, replacing a one-room country school that had been on that site since the 1870s. The community continued to expand and a new and larger Globeville School was completed in 1925 at 51st an Lincoln. However, the increase in the population reached its high point in the 1920s and declined afterward. With a dwindling enrollment, the Globeville School closed in 1943 and the remaining students were sent to Garden Place School.

In 1948, the building was given new life when Joseph and Elizabeth Calabrese created Laradon Hall, an organization that offers support, guidance and training to children with developmental disabilities.

Top photo, Globeville School at 51st and Washington, 1890, photo Denver Public Library

Second photo, Sam's Vintage Parts occupies the remains of the 1890 school, photo Mary Lou Egan

Third photo, new school 51st and Lincoln 1923, photo Denver Public Library

Fourth photo, Laradon Hall today, photo Mary Lou Egan

Argo School

At the time of Globeville’s incorporation in 1891, four elementary schools, Argo, Ironton, Globeville and Garden Place, served the area's children. The Argo School was built in 1890 for the children of the company town known as Argo, home of the Boston and Colorado Smelter. The school was richly endowed with funds from the smelter and the railroads and embodied all that was modern in its day: toilets that flushed, a basement, and a furnace. The school also housed the office of the superintendent, who was responsible for all four schools.

After a fire destroyed the Boston and Colorado Smelter in 1906, the population of the town diminished, the smelter was dismantled, and the school torn down in 1916. The convergence of interstate highways known as the "Mousetrap" occupies the site of the once-massive smelter, and the Plaza Hotel (now the Quality Inn) at 48th Avenue and Broadway occupies the site of the Argo School.

Photo of the Argo School about 1891 courtesy of Nora Landberg Duryea.

Photo of Plaza Hotel, Mary Lou Egan.

Calling all students of Holy Rosary

Holy Rosary Parish at 4688 Pearl Street in Globeville would like to reach out to all former students and graduates of Holy Rosary School, which was in operation from 1929 to 1969. The parish is creating a photographic history of the former school that will be available on a DVD.

The building was heavily damaged when water pipes broke in November of 2008 and work is underway to restore and reopen the school as a parish center for meetings, celebrations, receptions, classes and pancake breakfasts.

Call the parish at 303-297-1962 or email at holy.rosary@live.com.

Or as the sisters would say, you could join us for Mass, 9 am weekdays, 5:30 pm on Saturday, 8 and 10 am on Sundays, 11:30 am Sunday Spanish Mass (starting in May).

Top photo, the school in April, 2010 by Mary Lou Egan

Bottom photo, graduating class of 1938, from June Jackson Egan

Back row, left to right: Frank and Harold Krasovich, Leo Pollock, John Marolt, Bill Mauser, Joe Shaball, Mark Davidovich, Anthony (Nixie) Mencin

Front row, left to right: Mary Drobnich, Mathilda Horvat, Dorothy Kvas, June Jackson, Monsignor Judnic, Eileen Butler, Anne Horvat, Betty Ann Zalar, Sophie Pacheco.

The Sidewinder

If buildings could talk, the Globe Hall at 4485 Logan Street in Globeville would surely have some tales to tell. In January, 1894, the building was home to the Golobvich and Slogar Saloon where a group of men gathered to form Sveti Jakov, St. Jacob’s Croatian-Slovenian Benefit Society, an ethnic fraternal insurance organization.

St. Jacob’s was a somewhat secret society for men only, and a password was required to gain entrance to a lodge meeting. The first year the password was “Sloboda” and the next year it was changed to “Hrvatska.” In April 1906, the women of Globeville, mostly wives of St. Jacob’s members, formed St. Ann’s Lodge 143, which merged with the men’s group in December, 1926.

Later, the tavern was called the 16 to One Exchange and was managed by the politically powerful Max Malich, known in Globeville as "the King of the Slavs." The site was home to weddings, funerals, meetings of the town council, and, during the bitter labor battles of 1903, the Mill and Smeltermen’s Union. Meetings to organize Holy Rosary Parish, as well as Mass and confession, were held there until the church was completed in 1920. After World War II, members of the Globeville Veteran’s Association gathered in the tavern for support and camaraderie.

Stop by the Sidewinder, enjoy a beer, watch the Denver Broncos and toast the former patrons of this historic place.

Top photo Mary Lou Egan

Bottom photo, funeral of Martin Kapsh in 1895, courtesy of Alma Mandarich.