The story
L'Unione Italiana was founded in 1894 as a mutual-aid society for Italian immigrants, with Bartolomeo Filogamo as first president. Membership grew from 107 at the start to more than 3,000 by 1935. Members received health insurance with sick and death benefits, and the club owned a cemetery that followed Sicilian burial customs.
The first clubhouse, completed in 1911, burned in 1914. The current three-story red-brick building was finished in 1918, according to Wikipedia, and was designed by M. Leo Elliott in a Renaissance Revival style, with Corinthian columns, marble details and small third-floor balconies. In the 1930s and 1940s the building housed a movie theater called the Broadway Theatre.
Santo Trafficante Sr. was a member and is buried in the club's cemetery. The club marked its centennial in December 2018 and holds Festa Italiana each spring.
What's There Now
The building is often rented for private events, and the club hosts Festa Italiana each spring.
Everything that was here
- 1918–present · still open
L'Unione Italiana (Italian Club)Other
A mutual-aid society for Italian immigrants whose clubhouse also housed a movie theater called the Broadway.
See the map in 1919 → - Date unknown
Broadway TheatreTheater
A movie theater inside the Italian Club building in the 1930s and 1940s.
Did you know?
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