Colfax Avenue, the Longest, Wickedest Main Street in America, has a colorful and vibrant history that must be preserved. This site is a gift to the people of Colorado and the World for historical archival purposes. All content can be found through the links in the right hand column or use the search feature in the top left. If you use any content, please credit ColfaxAvenue.org.
This two-part commercial block at 1201 East Colfax Avenue
was built in 1905 on lots 21 and 22 of block 31 in the Park Avenue Addition for
a cost of $21,000. The three-story Mediterranean Revival style building was
designed by architect Edwin H. Moorman, whose other works included the Fillmore
Auditorium, Park Hill Fire Station, and the iconic Tower of Jewels at Lakeside
Amusement Park. The property was owned by John S. and Nellie Flower.
John, a prominent investor and president of the Real Estate Exchange, had
purchased the parcels in 1900 from the Jefferson Investment Company.
In 1912, the Flowers sold the building to the Scherrer Land
and Investment Company. Through the years, many different commercial businesses
occupied the ground level of the building. Perhaps most notably, Sid
King’s Crazy Horse Bar occupied the building beginning in 1948. King and
his partner Joseph Goodman purchased the building from owner William Vasil in
1965. Westword magazine credited the Crazy Horse as one of the anchoring
post-World War II properties on East Colfax that turned the thoroughfare into
the “gauntlet of dives, XXX theatres, hookers, (and) drug deals…” An iconic
Denver burlesque club, it attracted notable locals, celebrities, and
dignitaries alike, among them Elvis Presley, King Hussein of Jordan, and Clint
Eastwood. The interior and exterior of 1201 E. Colfax was included in
Eastwood's 1978 film “Every Which Way But Loose.” Outside his club, Sid King
was a noted philanthropist.
Other locations listed: 6801 West Colfax, 1490 South Colorado, 4095 South Santa Fe and 7400 North Federal.
6301 East Colfax was the 3rd location of Denver Drumstick. The original opened at 6801 West Colfax in 1955, but later moved to 6501 West Colfax in 1967.
Hickory Pit Bar Barbecue, 12039 East Colfax Avenue, Aurora, Colorado (undated photo courtesy of the Shorty Hanger collection and scanned by Todd Matuszewicz)
It's unclear if this sign was ever made. In addition to the Colfax and Peoria restaurant, there were several other Denver-area locations over the years of a restaurant called "Hickory Pit" or "Hickory Pit Bar-B-Que."
Ads from 1954 proclaimed the Aurora restaurant to be "under new management." A 1959 newspaper article mentions the grand opening of Hickory Pit located at 7950 Federal Blvd in Westminster. The Westminster location advertised another grand opening in 1960. An ad from 1961 lists Hickory Pit Bar-B-Que at 28th and Downing and a 1965 ad lists it at 2861 Colorado Blvd.
Color
Harmony Center / Aurora Color Center, 10216 East Colfax Avenue, Aurora,
Colorado (undated photo courtesy of the Shorty Hanger collection and
scanned by Todd Matuszewicz)
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