Rabbit Foot Saloon

From Bhamwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Rabbit Foot Saloon was a drinking house converted from an old stable. Police officers in 1905 claimed that their efforts to enforce saloon regulations at the Rabbit Foot were stymied by George C. Phillips, a member of the Board of Police Commissioners which oversaw the Birmingham Police Department, and a 1/4th owner of the operation.

According to contemporary accounts, the stable stalls served as intimate wine rooms, "frequented by dissolute women, both Negroes and whites, and the animal cravings were whetted and exploited."1.

The owner's license was revoked by the Birmingham Board of Aldermen with the support of mayor George Ward, stirring a dispute that led to an armed standoff in the Mayor's office.

Notes

  1. Taylor-1912, p. 1472

References

  • Taylor, Graham Romeyn (January 6, 1912) "Birmingham's Civic Front" in Birmingham: Smelting Iron Ore and Civics", a special issue of The Survey. Vol. 27, No. 14
  • LaMonte, Edward S. (1974) George B. Ward: Birmingham's Urban Statesman. Birmingham: Birmingham Public Library/Oxmoor Press