There are towns named after founding pioneers or for distinguishing landmarks in their area, and there are some named after its reputation.
Hell’s Half Acre lived up to its name.
In 1888, a small plot of land, measuring two city blocks long and two city blocks wide found itself in the unique position to be excluded from the newly founded town limits of Brookside.
Brookside, a company town founded by the Cañon City Coal Company, followed company regulations of not having saloons in town limits. The proximity of the small plot of land to a dry town was an opportunity too great to pass up for several entrepreneurs and Hell’s Half Acre soon was born.
Consisting of at least seven saloons, brothels, and a few businesses in an otherwise mostly dry county, concerned citizens who were in favor of dry communities soon deemed the plat of land as Hell’s Half Acre, and the “rip-roaring community that lived up to its name,” according to a Cañon City Daily Record article.
Free from the control of the mining company and just far enough away from law enforcement in both Cañon City and Florence, the town became known not only for brewing up strong drinks but also trouble.
A Florence Daily Tribune article from 1898 recounts a robbery in which the thief stole $175 from the saloon, as well as $110 from an unlucky patron who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In 1900, the Cañon City Times reported the robbery and murder of two miners who had left the Acre after a night of drinking only to encounter two robbers on their way home. One miner was shot once through his body and died immediately. The other miner, despite being shot three times in the head, was only stunned and lived to tell of the ordeal.
Local miners were not the only patrons who would sneak off to the Acre for a drink after a long day’s work. Reports of businessmen, who would promote the benefits of dry towns during the day, often would visit the Acre under the cover of darkness.
While business seemed to be booming at the Acre, Brookside, home its largest number of patrons, began declining around 1905, and by 1908, the Acre had almost dried out with just two remaining saloons.
In 1910, the Acre started making headlines again as a request for a new liquor license was presented to the Fremont County Commissioners. A Cañon City Clipper article from March 1910 reported that Tony Adamic sought a liquor license for a new establishment, however when it became evident that he was seeking to open an establishment on Hell’s Half Acre, they denied his request.
The reporter goes on to state, “The commissioners deserve great credit for their prompt action in stopping the opening of the other saloon in this miserable place. While it is four miles from Cañon, it is entirely too close.”
While the reporter might have had issues with the proximity of the Acre to Cañon City, others thought that the location being halfway between Florence and Cañon City was an ideal location for saloons.
In October 1910, the county commissioners were once more presented with a request for a liquor license. Max Vezetti, who built his saloon, the Fremont Saloon, in Hell’s Half Acre with his brother, Charles, in 1897 was requesting for a second time a license. His previous request had been denied because he violated the Sunday Closing Law.
In a scandal that caused quite a ruckus among locals, County Commissioner Kelso voted in favor of renewing Vezetti’s license. Kelso, along with Commissioner LaGrange, had a long-standing agreement that they would each support one another in regards to not granting a license to sell liquor on the public highways, according to old newspaper reports, and Kelso violating this agreement came as quite a shock.
The Times reporter closes the article stating, “If he will violate his agreement in such matters and vote to open a perfect hell hole like this party as kept in the past, to the great annoyance of the good people of the county and especially the good people on Lincoln Park, he should be remembered by the voters on election day and placed where he can not use his office to disgrace the people of the county.”
According to the Fremont County Commissioners’ website, S.G. Kelso served from 1905-1912 and again from 1923-1926.
The new chapter of Hell’s Half Acre was slightly less unruly than the first. With the arrival of the Selig Polyscope Company in town, the Acre found itself not only a favorite spot for the movie stars to visit after a stressful of filming but also as a perfect backdrop for several movie scenes.
Tom Mix became a frequent patron for Vezetti’s Fremont Saloon for their famous five-cent beer and free lunch combo. According to newspaper reports as well as other documents at the Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center, the bar was riddled with bullet holes from a shooting game Mix liked to play with his friends. Placing a lemon on a glass at the end of the bar, the group would take turns shooting at it. The poorest shot had to buy the group drinks. While reports state that Vezetti was not too fond of the game, as it put holes in his building, the crowds that would gather to watch seemed to overshadow the damage done.
In 1916 as the Prohibition went into full effect, the saloons at Hells’ Half Acre once more closed their doors. However, some reports state that the Acre never really became dry because homemade beer was brewed at the Fremont Saloon, which was being rented out by a bootlegger.
After two dry decades, the first legal drinking establishment opened in 1939 at Hells Half Acre, now considered a part of Brookside’s jurisdiction.
An interview on the new bar from May 22, 1939, newspaper article states, “It is a 3.2 beer place operated by D.Rocco. This 3.2 beer is a far cry from the red-eye and whisky neat that used to be sold at old Hell’s Half Acre and its saloons, but in the opinion of one Acre resident, ‘It’s better than nothing.'”
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Back In Time: A look at Fremont County’s once lively Hell’s Half Acre - Canon City Daily Record
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