On this day in 1915, my paternal grandfather, Casimer John Kowalski, was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Polish immigrants Dominik and Wladyslawa ('Lottie') Kowalski. He was the youngest of four boys and the only member of his family born in America. He married Veronica Bodziony in Cleveland in 1939. Here is the 1940 U.S. Census in which they are listed (click for larger view):
1940 U.S. Census: Casimer and Veronica Kowalski
In 1940, Cas and Veronica are living at 6601 Hoppensack Ave on Cleveland's east side. They had remained in the same neighborhood in which they grew up; both of their parents are still living on E. 65th and E. 63rd Streets, just right around the corner from Hoppensack Ave.
Here is what the home looked like about five years ago, according to Google Street View. The front siding and windows are obviously newer in make, but the house probably looks much like it did in 1940. (According to real estate data, it was built in 1900.) Some of the older wooden siding can be seen on the side where the newer siding has come off. Unfortunately, like this house, many houses in this area of the city have become run-down and/or abandoned.
According to the census form, Cas and Veronica rented living space from the home's owners and residents, Frank and Anna Kontor, who were Polish immigrants. My grandfather was working as an inspector in a cast iron foundry. You can see, by glancing at the occupations of the other residents on the census form, that this was a very blue-collar, industry-dependent neighborhood.
UPDATE (11 Dec 2014): Since August, Google has updated this particular street's Street View images. Because the photo above uses a widget to pull directly from the current database, it updates when the images update. As you can see, the home in which my grandparents lived has been torn down. I am so, so glad that I took screen shots of the previous images, and saved them on my hard drive. Here is what the house looked like:
UPDATE (11 Dec 2014): Since August, Google has updated this particular street's Street View images. Because the photo above uses a widget to pull directly from the current database, it updates when the images update. As you can see, the home in which my grandparents lived has been torn down. I am so, so glad that I took screen shots of the previous images, and saved them on my hard drive. Here is what the house looked like:
©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
