Around 1920, the property running east on Erie Street from North Adams Streets was bought by Vincenzo and Bernadina (sometimes spelled differently) Leonardi, who had immigrated from Italy and settled in Havre de Grace. The property had been owned by John C. Salik (1840-1901) and his wife, Lydia, who passed it on to their son, John J. Salik (1894-1958). John J. sold it to Rafaele and Lena Calichia in 1919, after which the Leonardis bought it one year later. It is assumed that they built the two-story property and the later addition.

The Leonardis opened the bar-restaurant known as The Blue Room but their daughter, Teresa Leonardi Vincenti and her husband Angelo “Reds” Vincenti, took it over, perhaps in the 1930s, and ran it for many years. The Leonardis are known to have advertised their spaghetti sauce in 1938 as “Spaghetti—the best in town.” Sally Lieske Daigle may have learned the secret of the spaghetti sauce from her grandfather. She says that he used to go to The Blue Room in the early days and they would let him trade some of his fresh lima beans for beer but he also learned that the secret to their spaghetti sauce was sugar!

The Blue Room was in the two-story building, with a small grocery store west of the entrance and The Blue Room to the east of the entrance (its appearance has changed in time—what was originally a porch with wide steps has now been enclosed). Teresa and Reds lived a little further east on Erie Street, where they raised 11 children. Many of the family members lived in this north end of the city. It appears from deeds that the property bought by the Leonardis originally ran east on the north side of Erie Street to Conesteo Street but was subdivided at some point later.

At some time in the early 1970s, Teresa and Reds closed The Blue Room and Barbara and Jimmy Gitanis took it over and renamed it as The Regatta Inn. The name was because at the time the annual hydroplane regatta used the lot on the corner of Erie and Conesteo Streets for their pits and launch area. The first floor of the renovated two-story building became the bar and the one-story building beside it was rebuilt as The Regatta Inn’s nightclub called the Log Room. The life of the Regatta Inn, however, was short lived and it closed in the 1980s.

Over the years the properties at #635 and #637-641 were owned separately and also together by various people including the Saliks, Leonardis, Malloys, Allen J. Fair, David and Doris Walker, and Frederick Ford. Both properties were bought by Peter M. Visser (one in 2003 and the other in 2005) who now operates rental apartments as well as Visser’s Rod & Customs service garage and workshop here.

County Records
#635: Built 1975, 2040 sq ft, 2773 sq ft lot. #637-641: Built 1920, 2644 sq ft, 3.5 baths, 2582 sq ft lot