State Bar

Nicollet Avenue between First and Second Streets, Minneapolis, MN

Pesis examines his unmailed insurance application in a fire-damaged State Bar, 1950. Courtesy of the Minneapolis Star (now Star-Tribune).

In some respects, the State Bar was the last of its kind. Shrouded in mystery and forgotten by most in Minneapolis, the establishment was a hole-in-the wall during the 1940s and 50s in the long-lost Gateway District. Other taverns, such as the Silver Dollar next door, gained substantial newspaper attention for serving alcohol to the “wrong” people.(1) Drunkards, prostitutes, and queer men were all part of this group, as were Native Americans; the Silver Dollar closed briefly in 1947 because it sold alcohol to Native people, which was illegal in Minnesota at the time.(2) Located across Nicollet Avenue from Gateway Park, The State operated in the oldest part of Minneapolis when aged buildings were tremendously unfashionable.(3) This urban unpopularity is largely the reason why cheap bars concentrated in the transient neighborhood. In the Gateway, owners of the establishments were typically uninterested in their clients beyond the tab. This was especially the case at the State, owned by none other than Ernest Pesis—a nefarious character in the history of Minneapolis’ gay bars. Pesis and his brother Ron would later purchase Sutton’s Place from Elizabeth Sutton in 1966(4)—he turned the gay bar into a dingy disco purely for the profit.(5) Disrespectability marred the lucrative business of gay bars for all but the most uncaring; locally, this relegated queer bar ownership to the “Jewish Mafia.”(6) One can surmise that Pesis made a profit from queer men at the State based upon his later ownership of Sutton’s. Another newspaper item further substantiates this conjecture—in July of 1950, a mysterious fire damaged the Sate. Reporters quickly discovered that the bar was uninsured, and printed Pesis’ lame excuse: “he said he had written it and put it in an envelope and then delayed in mailing it.”(7) At the time, insurance was likely considered an unworthy investment for a lowly gay bar. Nicollet Avenue between First and Second Streets in 1949. Image courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.

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(1)Hart, Joseph and Hirschoff, Edwin C. Down & Out: The Death and Life of Minneapolis' Skid Row. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.

(2)Roshiem, David L. The Other Minneapolis: The Rise and Fall of the Gateway, the Old Minneapolis Skid Row. Iowa: Andromeda Press, 1978. Page 164.

(3)Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Vintage Books, 1961. Chapter 10: "The need for aged buildings." Pages 187-199.

(4)According to an inventory of Minneapolis City directories available on the 4th floor stacks of Hennepin County Central Library.

(5)Tretter, Jean-Nickolaus. Interview with the author and Jacob Gentz, 1/16/10

(6)Carlyle, Erin. "Rommal Bennett's Trial Revisits Spate of Gay Murders in the Twin Cities." City Pages, 4/7/2009. http://www.citypages.com/2009-04-08/news/rommal-bennett-s-trial-revisits-spate-of-gay-murders-in-the-twin-cities/

(7) "Fire in Loop Bar Routs a Dozen Tenants" The Minneapolis Star, 7/16/1950.

Please note: I first suspected that Mr. Pesis was a member of organized crime, and that he operated the State purely for profit. Chester Daxe, who opened The Grand Finale and the The Barefoot Boy Health Club, corrected this mistake via email. Daxe knew Ernie Pesis personally, and strongly doubts any odious behavior; in fact, Daxe suggested that Ernie was a "straight ally."

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