The Fox (Fox Bar)
Milwaukee
Summary
The Fox opened in December 1948 at 455 N. Plankinton Avenue, at Clybourn, in an old saloon formerly known as the Clybourn Inn. Long and exceptionally narrow, it was sometimes nicknamed "the Skinny Fox" and offered lunches in an onsite restaurant during the 1950s. Founder Frank Demling ran it until his death in 1955, after which its operation passed through several hands. Listed in national gay travel guides from 1963 onward, the Fox was one of the anchors of the so-called Plankinton Strip of gay bars.
Former police sergeant George Bemis took it over in 1964, and the bar closed on July 1, 1966, when the land was acquired for freeway construction.