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on the near west side, from the Capitol Square and St. Ray's down to the "Bush," at the intersection of Regent and W. Washington. That was the boundary for the Italian neighborhood and their parish, St. Joe's on Park St., back in the day. It then stretched passed the Mifflin area over to State St. to the North, which was the boundary for the German neighborhood and their parish, Holy Redeemer on Johnson? St. St. Ray's was also the Cathedral for the diocese and for the non-Catholics among us that meant it was the home court for the Bishop. He arrived for high mass on all the main feast days to celebrate elaborately in St. Ray's. The Southern boundary for The Fourth Ward is Lake Monona.
There was a second Irish parish, St. Patrick's, about 4 blocks east of the square, as the immigration patterns had flooded Madtown with first the Irish, then the German and Norwegian, and finally at the turn of the century, the Italians. For a brief period there were more Irish than anything else, hence the need for a second Irish parish. Each new immigration group established their own neighborhoods, social clubs, Catholic parishes with grade schools, funeral directors, grocery stores, liquor stores, etc. Not much in the way of early restaurants back in the day, but there were lots of saloons. My Grandfather's brother owned what was then named The Irish Garden at the turn of the last century, which in later years after Prohibition, was the Shamrock Bar, up on W. Main, adjacent to the square across from the Park Motor Inn.
Grandpa's mail route, memorialized in his obit in the Cap Times upon his retirement, described the ten miles he trekked each day for about 50 years with one of those large leather mailbags strapped over his shoulder, all over the square businesses, to the State Capitol and legislative offices, the old state office building on E. Wilson, and the municipal offices in the morning, and then down in that residential neighborhood, The Old Fourth Ward, in the afternoons. He knew all the judges, the politicians, the cops, the news writers, business owners, etc., and they all paid tribute to him and his dedication to the poor families on his route during The Depression. He was a genuine folk hero in the hood.
Edgewood, Monroe St., Camp Randall, all were considered "West side." I grew up downtown on the 300 block of Doty at the intersection with Broom and hitchhiked most days out to EHS on busy W. Wash. Our old house's location is a residential care facility, and my Mother, born and raised on that block, now lives in that facility just yards from where our old house stood, no longer there. She is 95 and one year older than Camp Randall. It boggles my mind to contemplate that. Gramps in his own right lived to be 102 or 104, depending on which immigration records one consults, as there is some confusion and disagreement where and when he entered. My Mom probably misses St. Ray's more than anyone on the planet.
Just my dos centavos
robdogbucky
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