LGBTQ history (24)

Business · Milwaukee B's Bar (also known as 3B's) B's Bar, also advertised as 3B's, operated at 1579 S. 2nd Street in Milwaukee from July 1995 to October 1997. Three of the four owners of the earlier 3B's tavern on South Kinnickinnic Avenue relocated Business · Milwaukee Black Forest Inn Black Forest Inn was a combined bar and restaurant at 814 S. 2nd Street in Milwaukee, opened in August 1976 and run by a same-sex couple. Its decor evoked an Old World, Black Forest theme, with tree t Business · Milwaukee Castaways South 2nd Street, opened around late 1970 or early 1971 when the earlier Castaways bar relocated from 424 W. McKinley. It advertised one of the largest dance floors in the Midwest and drew a mostly male cro Business · Milwaukee Deja-Vu 2nd Street in Milwaukee, open from August 1993 to about May 1994. It occupied a corner space that had previously housed the Oregon House and the Phoenix, part of a cluster of gay bars in the South 2nd Business · Milwaukee Empire Lounge Empire Lounge was a small corner bar at 716 N. Plankinton Avenue in downtown Milwaukee, opened in 1940 and remodeled into a piano bar during the 1950s. Owned for many years by Alex Korchunoff, it deve Business · Milwaukee Flame Flame was a Milwaukee gay bar that operated briefly in 1973 at 181 S. 2nd Street. Little documentation of the bar survives. It is reported to have closed after a fire. The building later housed anothe Business · Milwaukee Gargoyles National Avenue, open for roughly two years from 1995 to 1996. It billed itself as a social club and promoted its location between the Wreck Room and the Boot Camp to attract the area's Levi/leather c Business · Milwaukee Grand Avenue Annex Grand Avenue Annex was a Milwaukee bar at 746 N. 7th Street, opened in August 1986 by the owners of the nearby Grand Avenue Pub during a period of uncertainty over the Pub's lease. Both bars were clos Business · Milwaukee Hybrid Lounge Brady Street in Milwaukee, open from March 2010 to February 2017. Co-owners Nate Fried and Bill Lison, who had both worked at the LaCage dance club, designed it as a "hybrid" gay-and-straight neighbor Business · Milwaukee Jet's Place Kinnickinnic Avenue, open from 1986 to June 1991. Opened by a woman known as Jeanette ("Jet") primarily as a women's bar, it drew a broad following and was known for its Sunday afternoon parties. The Business · Milwaukee Legion Bar The Legion Bar stood at 745 N. 6th Street in Milwaukee and operated through the 1940s, run by Nicholas Marmigas, before closing by 1949. Long known mainly through oral histories, it has been documente Business · Milwaukee Martin's Arlington that operated for about a year in 1975-1976. It advertised in the local GPU News and appeared in a national bar guide of the period. Little additional documentation of the bar survives. Business · Milwaukee Michelle's Club 546 Located in the Royal Hotel at 5th and Michigan in downtown Milwaukee, this bar was a gathering place for gay and lesbian patrons from about the mid-1930s. Known first as the Royal Hotel Bar, it later Business · Milwaukee Neptune Club The Neptune Club opened in May 1972 at 1100 E. Kane Place in Milwaukee, in a building that had previously been Fish's Harbor Tavern. It served food and was popular for drag shows and dancing. The Nept Business · Milwaukee Nut House Nut House was a downtown Milwaukee venue at 623 N. 6th Street, operating around 1933 to 1935 and known for its female-impersonator revues during a flourishing era of drag entertainment in the city. Th Business · Milwaukee Park Hotel / Hiawatha Bar The Park Hotel and its Hiawatha Bar stood at 549 N. 4th Street in Milwaukee, across from the Union Depot train station. Little is documented about it, but it was recalled as a cruising hotel whose cir Business · Milwaukee Plains Hotel Bar The Plains Hotel Bar appears in a single national gay bar guide from 1964, suggesting it was either only briefly in business or not especially welcoming to gay patrons. No local documentation of the b Business · Milwaukee Red Room Bar The Red Room Bar operated in the Plankinton Arcade at 161 W. Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee from about 1935 into the 1950s, and is remembered by many older gay men as a longtime hangout. It was earlier Business · Janesville Runway 51 Runway 51 was a bar near Janesville, Wisconsin, that opened in February 1993 in the former location of The New Leaf, taken over by operators known as Al and Roger, who reworked the interior. It served Business · Milwaukee The Alternative 1st Street that opened in July 1988 under co-owners known as Pete (also called Pat) and Beverly. Marketed as an Art Deco-styled venue, it served a mixed crowd of women and men and later added a disco Business · Milwaukee The Sidedoor St. Paul Avenue that opened in June 1976 in the remodeled space of the former River Queen. It featured a wood parquet dance floor, a large-screen television, and a disco. The bar appears to have close Business · Milwaukee The TAZZbah Bar & Grille The TAZZbah Bar & Grille operated at 1712 W. Pierce Street in Milwaukee from December 2004 to September 2007. Its principal owners included a former Boot Camp Saloon bartender known as Steve and Don M Business · Milwaukee The Wreck Room Bar The Wreck Room was Milwaukee's first cowboy and Levi/leather bar, opened in July 1972 at 266 E. Erie Street by Wayne Bernhagen and his partner Bill Kindt. Known for its rustic decor, including the fro Business · Milwaukee Unicorn Unicorn was a short-lived Milwaukee gay bar that opened in early 1984 in the basement of the Sidney HiH building at 300 W. Juneau Avenue. It was owned by Gus Hosseini, who also managed the building an