Supposedly the bar at the Stage Stop in Rollinsville is VERY OLD. It is clearly Not New. Still, we have precious little credible information on this curious little bar that we salvaged and currently hold in storage. Yes, contrary to vicious local rumors, we hold this esteemed artifact in high regard. We even harbor grand plans, probably foolishly, to return Ye Olde Stage Stop Bar to its former glory. Thus, we are on a Fact Finding mission.
One ancient document from the 1970s expounds several “facts”:
While we are unsure whether any of these dubious claims are valid, it is clear that at least one of them is patently false. Yet, we are certain of a few things. By the time we took possession of the Stage Stop, this prehistoric bar was in a Sad State of repair.
Ye Olde Stage Stop bar fell victim to vandalism, obviously perpetrated by nefarious miscreants. Cutting edge scientific analysis of the image with the bearded guy below yielded an interesting, Actual Fact: the defacing of Ye Olde Stage Stop bar was inflicted sometime this millennium. Yes, our old bar survived largely intact for nearly 150 years before scoundrels decided to hack it to pieces. The once thoughtfully functional service side of the bar top was recklessly hacked up by some criminal, apparently hell bent on finding the cheapest and most destructive way to shove modern back bar equipment underneath it. Almost Somewhat innocently, the bar top was subsequently gouged by patrons who had spent perhaps a few moments too long sitting before it. And virtually every decorative feature of the original woodwork was removed, destroyed, discarded or covered. Shameful.
Despite the villainous treatment Ye Olde Stage Stop bar suffered at the hands of malefactors over the preceding two decades, we plan to throw reason and money to the wind and restore this legendary hunk of wood to some form of its former glory.
Ye Olde Stage Stop Bar will not be back in action soon. And considering the evolution of Gilpin County’s building code along with the cost of Everything in the World increasing drastically, neither will the Stage Stop itself. But that is a matter for another post… At the moment, we are working on more immediate tasks like obtaining financing, equity investments, and donations in order to proceed with structural remediation and beyond of the Stage Stop itself.
In the meantime, Ye Olde Stage Stop Bar could use YOUR HELP!
Do you have old images of Ye Olde Stage Stop bar?
Do you have actual pieces of Ye Olde Stage Stop bar?
Do you have mad woodworking skills and time on your hands?
If you have any of those or just want to send us spam or complain that we called you something unpleasant, contact us at yeoldestagestopbar@golddirtdistillery.com. You’ll get a bounce back message saying your email didn’t get through, but that’ll be untrue. Keep ‘em coming!