Entry No. 160 — the Denver file — filed under: floor painting
The Face on the Barroom Floor
In 1936, Denver artist Herndon Davis — furious after a fight with his project director — snuck into the Teller House saloon after midnight and painted a woman's face on the barroom floor, finishing at 3am; the model was his own wife, though the bar cryptically credited the work to a 19th-century poet for decades. Today the mysterious face is roped off with stanchions inside the historic Face Bar, a genuine oddity of Colorado history and a perennial stop on the Central City trail.
The move: Visit the Face Bar at Teller House during the summer opera season (open daily, roughly noon to 9-10pm), peer down at the haunting painted face preserved in the floor, then order drinks at the same bar and debate the legend before catching a Central City Opera performance just up the street.
📍 Before you go The Face Bar sits inside the historic Teller House on Eureka St, in the old mining town of Central City — about 45 minutes west of Denver via I-70 and the scenic Central City Parkway, with a free covered parking garage and sky-bridge into the walkable historic core. Access splits by season: the bar opens during the summer opera season (roughly late June into August), while the rest of the year you reach the face only on a Gilpin Historical Society Teller House tour — a seasonal schedule, so check ahead. Pair it with a Central City Opera performance just up the street, or wander the surrounding casinos.
- 📍 Central City
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 120 Eureka St, Central City, CO 80427
Hours: Mined 2026-06-07 — confirm current hours before you go.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Atlas Obscura · Roadside America · Yelp
last checked: 2026-06-07