The Nicoletti Family (Marco, Teresa and sons Frank and Joseph) lived in 227 S Lincoln between 1911 and 1937 and during the height of the fight of prohibition. During Prohibition, Thomas Nicolletti (brother of Marco), had owned a bar called the “Nicoletti Brother’s Saloon” on 13th and Larimer. Upon hearing of the pending prohibition the Nicoletti’s began to stock-up on wine and alcohol in the basement of their homes. The police couldn’t search for the alcohol there! A relative many years later recalled the locations of where wine was hidden in the home’s basement during these years. This was common for many residents at the time who began storing all the alcohol they could in their basements before the city went dry. The Nicoletti brothers converted their saloon into a cigar store and sold bootleg liquor upstairs. There was a tunnel that went into the cigar store to conceal the alcohol while unloading it.
It was reported that on the last night of legal alcohol, December 31, 1915, the New Year’s Eve passed quietly, more like a wake than a celebration to ring in a new year. Finally, on November 5, 1918, the Colorado General Assembly adopted an all-encompassing prohibition on intoxicating liquors. The new law strictly limited possession of intoxicating liquors to druggists and broadened the search and seizure powers of law enforcement, including the ability to seize any device used to carry liquor, including automobiles. Eventually the Nicoletti Brothers were caught for bootlegging in 1920 when a police warrant searched their house and found over 25 gallons of bootleg whiskey and wine hidden in a secret compartment under a clothes box and in the basement in apple boxes.
Source:
1) Private research collection of Nita Lynch - The Nicoletti Brothers and 237 S Lincoln.
2) https://legisource.net/2022/01/27/bone-dry-laws-the-sobering-truth-of-co...
3) https://legisource.net/2022/01/27/bone-dry-laws-the-sobering-truth-of-co...
Image Source: Private research collection of Nita Lynch - The Nicoletti Brothers and 237 S Lincoln.
