#historicbars

Before it was the British Bulldog, it was the Punch Bowl Tavern, established in 1904 and operating out of a small brick cottage built sometime between 1885 and 1890. “Punch Bowl” wasn’t just a clever name: as a hotspot for prize fighting, the bar welcomed boxers who threw their names into a punch bowl to determine who would fight whom in the tavern’s back room. The fights were so popular that a neighbor down the street opened a gym in 1908 to train boxers; and even Teddy Roosevelt, John Wayne, and Elvis Presley all once stopped by the tavern to get a glimpse of the fights while they were in town visiting.

Still, at first glance, it may seem that Bulldog is simply a bar, despite its historic leanings. But look closer and you’ll notice the Bulldog’s hand-painted wooden booths depicting elaborate Colorado landscapes. In the 1930s Native American artist Chief Sundown (known also as Noel Adams) painted the booths in exchange for food and drink.

The name may have changed, but since it opened in 1904, the now-British Bulldog has been a local watering hole hosting patrons of sporting events (today it airs all types of international soccer games!) for more than a century.