The Box Car
Formation: November, 1975
Address: 5935 N Nevada Ave.
Founders:
Type: Bar
Closed: 1980
[1][2]
A gay bar in Colorado Springs that opened in November, 1975. The bar excluded women when it opened. [3]
On the night of November 5, 1980, the bar was deliberately set on fire, according to investigators. There was flammable residue found on sections of the building. The fire started in the kitchen, leading to around $15,000 in damages (around $60,000 in today's value). [4]
Photos
Photo of building that was at 5935 N Nevada in 2008. Building has since been demolished.
Related People
- Bob Neu, third place winner of Mr. Gay Colorado 1976
Key Dates
- November, 1975: The Box Car Opens. #key-date
- November 21, 1976: The Box Car hosted the Ms. Gay Colorado contest. The event was sponsored by the Royal Sub-court of the United Court of Southern Colorado. According to Out Front, the event was the "first gay women's title event that this paper has ever heard of in the U.S." The event was hosted by Shel Anderson and Mike Brown (Nikki Lee), the Count and Contessa of Southern Colorado. #key-date
- November 5, 1980: The Box Car bar is intentionally set on fire, according to investigators' findings. #key-date
References
OUT FRONT. “Newsfax.” December 2, 1978. Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=OTF19761202-01.2.7. ↩︎
Pikes Peak Gay Community Center. “Gayspeak, Vol. 4, No. 6.” Newsletter. Colorado Springs, CO, June 1982. PPLD Digital Collections. https://digitalcollections.ppld.org/nodes/view/998838. ↩︎
Pikes Peak Gay Community Center. “Gayspeak, Vol. 4, No. 6.” Newsletter. Colorado Springs, CO, June 1982. PPLD Digital Collections. https://digitalcollections.ppld.org/nodes/view/998838. ↩︎
Colorado Springs Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO). “Late Night Blaze Guts Nevada Bar.” November 6, 1980. Newspaper Archive. https://newspaperarchive.com/other-clipping-nov-06-1980-5857416/. ↩︎