ColfaxAvenue.com is THE place to go to find out amazing and mind boggling things about the longest commercial street in the United States. As a reward for your visit, you will be able to feast your eyes on the one-and-only, lovely-and-talented "MISS COLFAX" of the month!
Playboy magazine once called Colfax Avenue, "the longest, wickedest street in America". Named after Vice President under Ulysses Grant, Schuyler Colfax, the street runs through Strasburg, Bennett, Watkins, Aurora, Denver, Lakewood, and Golden, Colorado. Schuyler was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, was present at the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, and even had breakfast with the President the morning of his assassination before catching a train out to California.
Once named "Golden Road" because of the miners that followed the street to their fortunes in the nearby mountains, Colfax Avenue was the grandest boulevard west of the Mississippi River. The state capitol and the Denver Mint are still on Colfax today.
In the 1940s, Jack Kerouac wandered along Colfax with Denverite Neal Cassady, writing sections of his classic "On the Road", and mentions visits to numerous Colfax bars. These early Beats left behind a unique artistic legacy as expressed by the painters, poets and musicians that continue to be inspired by the street.
Colfax Avenue fell on hard times in the 60’s and 70’s, when a new interstate freeway (I-70) was built, directing traffic that once drove down Colfax (historic HWY 40) away from the street. At this time, Colfax garnered a bad reputation as stories of prostitution, drugs, and mayhem abounded. If it’s happening in Denver, it’s happening on Colfax Avenue.
Now the old girl is making a comeback. New zoning measures, and new businesses have been popping up everywhere. Plans included the inaugural Colfax Marathon, which took place on May 21, 2006, the opening of a new Tattered Cover bookstore, and Chamberlain Heights, the first new residential development on Colfax in over 75 years!
A BIT of revitalization is cool, however, we LOVE Colfax just the way she is, blemishes and all, and strongly encourage developers and business owners to be respectful of the history and integrity of our one-of-a-kind avenue, her architecture and even more importantly, her unique, inherent CULTURE.
This revitalization is bringing displacement of tenants of the former low rent buildings. Please, give generously of your time and/or cash to help our Colfax Avenue Fellows in need.
Our recommendation is www.colfaxcommunitynetwork.org.
Thanks!
Visit our website dedicated to all things Colfax at www.ColfaxAvenue.com.
PLEASE KEEP COMMENT POSTINGS RELATED TO COLFAX AVENUE...WILL DELETE EVENTS ON STREETS OTHER THAN COLFAX. THANKS FOR KEEPIN’ IT JUST THE FAX! PEACE OUT.
I seen your site thru That Scary Place and loved the thought of my friend Colfax Ave. I lived in Colo most my life my nickname is Cruezer cause i loved crusing Colfax and loved Motley Crue. I lived in Aurora on East Colfax,almost far enough from the crack dealers and hookers we rode the 15 and the 16 bus so many times with so many crazy denverites, i am glad to see the cool pics of the places i almost forgotten. Right on Colfax....Love, a past Cruezer of Colfax
My dad loved colfax ave,so much so that he left me and the rest of his family in the 80s to live there,party there and try to make a new life for himself.He died there,april 21st,1986.His body was found in a drainage ditch on the corner of 72nd and colorado blvd,riddled w/bullets and stab wounds.His murder is still unsolved.I always wondered what drew him to colorado and colfax ave(he lived on colfax)now i know,what a cool place,i can almost bet he loved every minute of it.I hope someday to make it there and walk the same roads he did,untill then,thanks for the add,I can see all the great people and places my dad loved.
I love you colfax. I have peed behind your alleys. I have been harrassed by bums on you since I was 13. I have vomited on you. I have seen a million great shows on you. I have been arrested on you. I actually fornicated once on you, (in a vehicle, mind you) I have been stranded on you.I have been kicked out of businesses on you. I have shhopped on you, in the many freaky weirdo shops that have come and gone over the years. I have met some really interesting people on you.I have been late back to work from purchasing paraphenalia , from your many head shops,so I could get high on my lunchbreak. I have seen some shit on you.I have seen fights on you. piss on you. Vomit on you. I have seen the crack dealers sell crack on you.The old hookers down on the east side. Your history, your sleaze, your diversity, your single blocks on the east side, where someone attempted to make you nice by throwin in a chipotle. Your latino parts. Your black parts. Your white parts. Your foothills parts. Your crime. Your jaywalkers. Your police. Your bums.Your opporotunity schools next door to diamond cabaret's. Your old buildings.Your old everything. Casa Bonita.Your many gay bars. Landmark bars. The many upon many tattoo shops and porno shops. Kitty's entertainment.Your sheisty people I have met cruisin you. Shit, all the times in my life I have cruised you. Shit, before we were 21, and were bored and drunk, we'd drive ya one side to the other, looking for something to do, while we tossed our emoty beer cans out of our car's window, so we wouldn't get busted. "Nothing to do? let's cruise Colfax!", we used to always say in our youth. Your many, upon many, dirty ass crack/hooker hotels, all one right after the other! You are always a mile high baby! But most of all, Your BEAUTY. YOU, COLFAX, are what makes Denver great! You are a fuckin entity Colfax. And I love you!:P
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