Schlitz Building

Schlitz Building. 223 South Union Avenue. , In 1880, William Moore and James N. Carlile sold an undivided one-half interest in three town lots to George W. Crites for the sum of $1. In 1881, G. C. Eldridge sold a frame, one-story building with furniture and fixtures to South Pueblo National Bank for $500. , The Schlitz Brewing Company built this building to be a company-owned saloon. Notice the copper frieze across the front of the building featuring Bacchus and other revelers as well as the Schlitz globe near the top of the building. When the film crew was cleaning up the front facade prior to filming "Damon Runyon's Pueblo", bullet holes found in the frieze provided testimony to the area's wild and wicked past. , Colorado prohibition laws forced saloons and bars to close on January 1, 1916, three years before National Prohibition in 1919. This was the culmination of a 20-year effort on the part of women's groups. Almost immediately, a lively statewide moonshine business developed. Pueblo's sheriff confiscated 35 gallons of white whiskey with a value of $9 a pint. At times, prunes added to the mixture provided color. , During the Flood of 1921, federal officials allowed the consumption of liquor for medicinal purposes for 30 days. , By 1921, Pueblo bootlegging arrests averaged more than one a day. Old-time businessmen have reported that tunnels linked to old coal storage units under many Union Avenue stores were used to warehouse a large inventory of liquors during Prohibition. , The United States repealed Prohibition in 1933. , CCJLLC properties purchased the building in 1995 and completely restored it. , This project funded by a grant from the Colorado Historical Society State Historical Fund, Historic Pueblo Business Center Association, Security Title Guaranty Co., Kathie White, Mary Orf, John Demas, Friends and The Farley Foundation