Difference between revisions of "The Dugout Bar"

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Unlike any other bar at the time, the Dugout served an almost exclusively queer clientele. As its name implied, masculine patrons were more apt to discuss baseball statistics than topics that related to their sexual preferences.  More vocal men, effeminate men, and the upper-class frequented the Viking Room in the old Hotel Radisson on 7th Street. 
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|The Dugout was unlike any other bar at the time, as it served an almost exclusively queer clientele in downtown Minneapolis.  It was a popular hangout for veterans of the Second World War. 
  
Queer women possibly joined men at the Dugout, but their participation was socially and legally restricted.  The Dugout sat in the seedy backwaters of the old [[Gateway District]]—Minneapolis’ longtime locus of prostitution.  An anti-prostitution law (ironically) prevented women from entering bars without a male escort, thus lesbian couples were forbidden from using bars as sites of socialization.<small>(1)</small>
 
  
  
Of course, this was not always the Gateway’s case.  50 years before, the Dugout’s building was part of Minneapolis’ epicenter.  Its site was part of old Harmonia Hall, a largely-forgotten 19th century auditorium for the city’s large German population.  Across the corner was Minneapolis’ most memorable Victorian landmark—the beloved Metropolitan Building, once the tallest building in the city.  This part of town was a grid of intersecting streetcar lines, when streetcars were arteries of business and prestige.
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As its name implied, the bar's masculine patrons were more apt to discuss baseball statistics than topics that related to their sexual preferences.  Queer women possibly joined men at the Dugout, but their participation was socially and legally restricted. 
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<small>'''Interior photo of the Dugout shortly before demolition.  Image donated by Mark A. Morrill, the owner's grandson.  Courtesy of the [[Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection]].'''</small>
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More vocal men, effeminate men, and the upper-class frequented the Viking Room in the old Hotel Radisson on 7th Street. 
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The Dugout sat in the seedy backwaters of the old [[Gateway District]]—Minneapolis’ longtime locus of prostitution.  An anti-prostitution law (ironically) prevented women from entering bars without a male escort, thus lesbian couples were forbidden from using bars as sites of socialization.<small>(1)</small>
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| [[Image:Svc_dugout_out.jpg]] <div style="text-align: center;">
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<small>'''Exterior photo of the Dugout and the bar's owner on Third Street South.  Photo dontated by Mark A. Morrill, courtesy of the [[Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection]].'''</small>
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| Of course, this was not always the Gateway’s case.  50 years before, the Dugout’s building was part of Minneapolis’ epicenter.  Its site was part of old Harmonia Hall, a largely-forgotten 19th century auditorium for the city’s large German population.   
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Across the corner was Minneapolis’ most memorable Victorian landmark—the beloved Metropolitan Building, once the tallest building in the city.  This part of town was a grid of intersecting streetcar lines, when streetcars were arteries of business and prestige.
  
  
 
Other nearby bars—including the Trocadero (at 251 2nd Av S.) and the Persian Palms (at 109-111 Washington Ave S.)— catered to queer clientele as well, but they also catered to transient drunks, criminals, and “slummers” on the prowl for a wild time.  Queer men often fell victim to the last group, as the victims feared outing and rarely reported robberies or beatings to the police.
 
Other nearby bars—including the Trocadero (at 251 2nd Av S.) and the Persian Palms (at 109-111 Washington Ave S.)— catered to queer clientele as well, but they also catered to transient drunks, criminals, and “slummers” on the prowl for a wild time.  Queer men often fell victim to the last group, as the victims feared outing and rarely reported robberies or beatings to the police.
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Revision as of 16:56, 1 March 2010

206 Third Street South, Minneapolis (1940? – 1959)


The Dugout was unlike any other bar at the time, as it served an almost exclusively queer clientele in downtown Minneapolis. It was a popular hangout for veterans of the Second World War.


As its name implied, the bar's masculine patrons were more apt to discuss baseball statistics than topics that related to their sexual preferences. Queer women possibly joined men at the Dugout, but their participation was socially and legally restricted.


Svc dugout int.jpg

Interior photo of the Dugout shortly before demolition. Image donated by Mark A. Morrill, the owner's grandson. Courtesy of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection.


More vocal men, effeminate men, and the upper-class frequented the Viking Room in the old Hotel Radisson on 7th Street.


The Dugout sat in the seedy backwaters of the old Gateway District—Minneapolis’ longtime locus of prostitution. An anti-prostitution law (ironically) prevented women from entering bars without a male escort, thus lesbian couples were forbidden from using bars as sites of socialization.(1)


Svc dugout out.jpg

Exterior photo of the Dugout and the bar's owner on Third Street South. Photo dontated by Mark A. Morrill, courtesy of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection.

Of course, this was not always the Gateway’s case. 50 years before, the Dugout’s building was part of Minneapolis’ epicenter. Its site was part of old Harmonia Hall, a largely-forgotten 19th century auditorium for the city’s large German population.


Across the corner was Minneapolis’ most memorable Victorian landmark—the beloved Metropolitan Building, once the tallest building in the city. This part of town was a grid of intersecting streetcar lines, when streetcars were arteries of business and prestige.


Other nearby bars—including the Trocadero (at 251 2nd Av S.) and the Persian Palms (at 109-111 Washington Ave S.)— catered to queer clientele as well, but they also catered to transient drunks, criminals, and “slummers” on the prowl for a wild time. Queer men often fell victim to the last group, as the victims feared outing and rarely reported robberies or beatings to the police.


The Dugout was part of the roundly-criticized Gateway Urban Renewal Project. The city of Minneapolis cleared the entire block and it remained a parking lot for 19 years. 255 Avenue South—an office block—occupies the site, and it is part of the Wells Fargo Campus.


(1)Enke, Anne. Finding the Movement: Sexuality, Contested Space, and Feminist Activism. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2007. Page 40.

Part of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 100 Queer Places in Minnesota History, (1860-1969), (1969-2010)