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1500 Market Street Block - #33
1331 15th Street
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Architectural style: Nineteenth-Century Commercial Built: Mid-1880s (est.) Architect: Unknown |
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Frederick and Max Neef left Germany in 1871 and moved to Colorado from St. Louis in 1872 to try their luck at the Del Norte, Colorado, gold strike. Learning that the strike was not as big as they had heard, the brothers stayed in Denver and opened a saloon at this location. Business remained good and they expanded it with the construction of this three-story brick building, which included a dance hall and rooms to rent on the upper floors. They sold the business in 1891 to William Fair to move from retail into beer brewing. Fair continued to run Neef's Hall until 1912 when it closed. The Neef brothers bought the old Western Brewing Company at West 12th Avenue and Quivas Street in 1892. The brewery was known as Neef Brothers Brewing Company and its Gold Belt Beer became nationally known. They continued operations with their sons until Colorado voted for prohibition in 1914. After unprofitably turning to producing "near beer," the brewery was closed and the company dissolved in 1917. In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s the building housed a variety of businesses common to the surrounding neighborhoods, such as meat packing and produce companies. In more recent years the building was used for storage, until it was sold in 1994 and restored. The building's red brick exterior was stuccoed at an unknown date, but the incised hood moldings, stone windowsills, and first-floor iron columns are original. Inside you can see the original stairway, banister, second-floor entryway, and wooden dance floor that were saved during renovations. |
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