"two-story red brick; western front facade; arid corbeling." (from the NRHD form)
The Union Avenue Historic Commercial District NRHD form may be found at (
visit link) . The L'Unione Newspaper Building is item 7, page 9, #79 listing.
Also see (
visit link) .
This brief description does not do justice to the history of the building, so...
"Many of the Italians who immigrated to Colorado and settled in Pueblo at the turn of the 20th century did not plan to stay. They only came to make enough money to return to Italy and buy some land.
They had been lured by recruiters sent to Italy to find workers for the smelters that turned the ore from nearby mountain mines into gold, silver and other valuable metals. Sometimes companies would even pay the men's passage from Naples or Palermo only to dock it from their pay once they were working. Still, the immigrants - fathers and sons; brothers and cousins - seized the opportunity to change their destiny.
OUTSIDERS
In 1880, Pueblo County had only five Italians. By 1910, their number rose to 1,957, making Italians the county's second largest immigrant group after the Austrians. But the early Italian immigrants did not mix with Pueblo's more established communities. They couldn't speak English since their jobs didn't require them to learn it and the men generally boarded with Italian families. They got their news from Italian language newspapers, such as L'Unione published by the Columbian Federation. Their social life depended on the church, the local grocery and mutual aid societies.
These mutual aid societies were vital to the early Italian immigrants. They helped newcomers find jobs; provided support when members became sick; and even helped men find mail order brides in Italy. The societies also took care of funerals. One of the greatest fears of immigrants was to die without a proper funeral.
The dream of owning land finally came true for many immigrants, but not in Italy. Instead, many families purchased land on the Saint Charles Mesa, especially in the Vineland area. The husband would continue to work in the mines, smelters or steel mills while his wife and children would till the land. The same was true for those who opened grocery stores or neighborhood cafes. Everyone in the family helped.
MOVING UP
In the 1890s, Italian stone carvers helped change the public face of Pueblo. When an architect wanted to add carving to a building he simply pointed to where he wanted it and let the stone carver decide what to put there. Italian stone carvers also provided decorative carvings to many of the Union Avenue commercial buildings which are now on the United States Register of Historic Buildings.
As Pueblo's Italian community grew, it sought recognition. Under the auspices of the Columbian Federation, a statue honoring Christopher Columbus was erected in 1905. The dedication ceremony on October 12 drew an estimated 7,500 people with delegations from across the state.
A grand banquet that followed the ceremony eventually evolved into the most important political event in the community. By the 1960s, Pueblo's annual Columbus Day Dinner was a must-attend event for anyone who sought political office in Colorado.
The early Italian pioneers were targeted by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s because they were Catholic, drank wine and sent their children to parochial schools. The Klan considered them a threat to "the American way of life."
When Italy declared war on America, the Italians of Pueblo proved their patriotism even though nearly everyone had family in Italy. They bought war bonds and sent their sons to war. In the process, they became Americans." (from (
visit link) )