An entertaining journey into the highs, lows, bright spots, and dark corners of the Twin Cities' most famous and infamous drinking establishments—history viewed from the barstool.
In 1838, a rum trader named "Pig’s Eye" Parrant built a small shack in a Mississippi bluff that became the first business in the city of St. Paul: a saloon. Since then, bars, taverns, saloons, and speakeasies have been part of the cultural, social, and physical landscape of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Serving as neighborhood landmarks, sites of political engagement, welcoming centers for immigrants, hotbeds of criminal activity, targets of ire from church and state alike, and, of course, a place to get a drink, the story of the taverns and saloons of the Twin Cities is the story of the cities themselves.
In Closing Time Bill Lindeke and Andy Sturdevant dive into tales from famous and infamous drinking establishments from throughout Twin Cities history. Readers are led on a multigenerational pub crawl through speakeasies, tied houses, rathskellers, cocktail lounges, gin mills, fern bars, social clubs, singles bars, gastropubs, and dives. Featuring beloved bars like Matt's, Palmer's, the Payne Reliever, and Moby Dick's, the book also resurrects memories of long-forgotten establishments cherished in their day. Lindeke and Sturdevant highlight neighborhood dives, downtown nightspots, and out-of-the-way hideaways, many of which continue to thrive today. Closing Time brings together stories of these spaces and the people who frequented them.
ISBN-13: 9781681341378
Media Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
Publication Date: 10-15-2019
Pages: 240
Product Dimensions: 6.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Bill Lindeke, Ph.D., is an urban geographer and writer who focuses on how our environments shape our lives. He wrote MinnPost's "Cityscapes" column from 2014 to 2017, has written articles on local food and drink history for City Pages and the Growler, and has taught urban geography at the University of Minnesota and Metro State University. He writes a local urban blog at Twin City Sidewalks and is a member of the Saint Paul Planning Commission. He is the author of Minneapolis-Saint Paul: Then and Now. Andy Sturdevant is an artist and writer living in Minneapolis. He has written about art, history, and culture for a variety of publications, including City Pages, Belt, and Mpls.St.Paul. He currently writes a regular column for Architecture MN, and for five years, Andy wrote "The Stroll," a weekly column on Twin Cities neighborhoods, art, history, and architecture in for MinnPost. He is the author of Potluck Supper with Meeting to Follow and Downtown: Minneapolis in the '70s.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Pig's Eye Parrant's Saloon
Alexis Cloutier's Bowling Saloon
Waldmann's Saloon
Cantieny's Saloon
Saloon at the American House
Jumbo Saloon
Schiek's
The Eureka
Triangle Bar
Rogers Hotel Bar
The Grotto
Little Jake's
Maurer's Bar and Cafe
Hollyhocks Club
Cassius Bar
Hexagon Bar
Persian Palms
The Great Lakes Bar and Fun House
Saddle Bar
Town Pump
Matt's Bar
The Nickel Joint
Carioca Cantina
Gallivan's
Cozy Bar
The Red Baron
The Spot Bar
Palmer's Bar
The Left Guard
Moby Dick's
Commodore Hotel Bar
Payne Reliever
King of Clubs
19 Bar
Black Forest Inn
Halek's Bar
Johnny's Bar
The New French Bar
The Half Time Rec
Lee's Liquor Lounge
Stand-Up Frank's
Willard's Liquors
Red Dragon
The Blue Nile
Nye's Polonaise
Town Talk Diner
Malina's Sports Bar
Hoover's Pub
CC Club
Acknowledgments
Index
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