Dude Saloon
The Dude Saloon and Restaurant was owned by John B. Webb and located in his 3-story Webb Building on the southwest corner of 20th Street and 2nd Avenue North from 1871 to 1907. The well-furnished bar was located on the ground floor with rooms for boarding guests upstairs.
In 1875 "Webb's Old Stand" was being operated by J. W. Dupuy. He took delivery of two new billiard tables for the saloon that year. In January 1887 it was reported that Webb was closing the saloon and opening a "family" grocery.
In 1884 the restaurant was managed by E. Lessing while the saloon's proprietor was Joe Hochstadter. In 1887 the Dude Saloon offered "regular meals" for 25 cents.
In 1900 Webb, then residing in Florida, made public that he was "figuring on replacing the present building with a five-story structure to be used as a stage hotel." That project was never carried out.
Like other saloons of the era, the Dude Saloon issued tokens to customers which could be exchanged for drinks. These tokens are valued by collectors today. In 1901 the Leisure Hours Reading Club, suspected by police chief C. W. Austin of being a gambling den, was located upstairs from the saloon. In August 1903 police chief William Wier raided the rooms above the saloon, arresting 30 men and confiscating more than $500 in cash, two dozen pairs of dice, a roulette table and 2,000 chips.
There was another Dude Saloon in Pratt City, with Will Swain as bartender in 1900.
References
- "Changes" (January 17, 1877) Birmingham Age-Herald, p. 3
- City Directory of Birmingham and Gazetteer of Surrounding Section for 1884-5 (1884) Volume II. Atlanta, Georgia: Interstate Directory Company
- Pocket Business Directory and Guide to Birmingham, Ala. (1887) - accessed January 16, 2007
- "Chief Austin Makes Two Raids" (February 7, 1901) The Sentinel (Montevallo)
- "Gambling Rooms Raided" (August 16, 1903) Montgomery Advertiser
- White, Marjorie Longenecker (1977) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.