Exterior of the ‘new’ Route 40 Cafe & Colfax Museum
By Gary Shapiro, 9 News | Colfax Avenue has been called the longest main street in America. It’s also been called a lot of other things not quite as nice. The stretch of road has a colorful history full of restaurants, bars, music venues, wild shops and people.
It stretches the length of the metro area through three cities: Denver, Aurora and Lakewood. It’s seen good times and hard times, with a lot of crime along the way.
It’s colorful, entertaining and historical, and that’s why a musician known as the “Velvet Elvis” loves it so much. Jonny Barber started collecting Colfax memorabilia in 2004, and last year opened the Colfax Museum.
Unfortunately, the building flooded and the artifacts barely survived. This year, the Barbers decided to spread their love of Colfax throughout the city.
Much of the former Colfax Museum is on display at History Colorado Center in a new exhibit called “Forty Years on the Fax”. It’s about a time when Colfax, Highway 40, was the main way to get coast to coast.
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A few miles to the east on Colfax, there’s a new restaurant called the Route 40 Café. It’s decorated with items from the old Colfax Museum.
There’s even a growing “Colfax Hall of Fame” wall, now featuring famous grads from East High School, which is across the street. Philip Bailey from Earth, Wind and Fire, 70’s actress Pam Grier, folk singer Judy Collins and many others are on the wall.
Read the whole article and watch the video here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/memorabilia-from-shuttered-colfax-museum-finds-new-home/