This building was built in 1892 as the Brick Saloon, a popular watering hole where Aspen’s workingmen came for famous Monongahella rye or fine Crab Orchard whiskey, to play billiards and pool and admire its elegant fixtures and furnishings. During prohibition Tim Kelleher sold sandwiches here, but it wasn’t until 10th Mountain Division veteran Johnny Litchfield bought it that it became the legendary Red Onion. In the 1960s, owner Werner Kuester built a nightclub and gourmet restaurant next to the bar and family restaurant, and entertainers and celebrities flocked from around the world to perform there. By the 1990s, the restaurant had been converted to retail space, but the bar remains much as it was.

< The Red Onion, 2000. © Ann Hodges photo