cbs4 My 33 Header Logo
Weather Alert: A FLOOD ADVISORY is in effect for Northeastern Broward County until 11:00 PM, Southeastern Broward and Northeastern Miami-Dade until 11:45 and Central Miami-Dade until 12:15 | More Details

Local

Miami’s Tobacco Road Marks 100th Anniversary

View Comments
(Source: www.tobacco-road.com)
Celebrity Photo Galleries

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Tobacco Road has marked a milestone.

On Saturday, it celebrated its 100th year making it the oldest bar in Miami.

In this day and age, most bars only have a lifespan of a few years but Tobacco Road has managed to defy the odds.

“We have been here for a long time. It’s hard to say you can have an establishment for a hundred years that’s been sitting up here doing the same thing,” said manager Angel Lindquist.

Established in 1912, the bar and restaurant are primarily known as a blues cabaret. Over the years, however, it has been a gambling den, a strip joint, a blues bar and gay club.

The two-story structure remains virtually unchanged since its inception.

According to their website during it’s early years, the establishment was a bakery that presumably served as a front for a speakeasy during Prohibition. A secret room hidden behind a bookshelf on the second floor was used to store liquor.

In the early 1940s, according to the website, it was purchased by an infamous racketeer and bookie from New York who named it Tobacco Road. During this decade, the Road became a nationally known gay bar and the focus of local outrage. It was shut down by the city’s Morals Squad for “lewd, wanton and lascivious behavior” a charge that referred to its female impersonators and male strippers.

in 1981, Governor Bob Graham ordered a drug raid on Tobacco Road and the bar was again temporarily shut down. In 1982, the bar was sold to its present owners Michael Latterner and Patrick Gleber.

View Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus
Listen Live!

CBS Miami Sections

Shopping Around South Florida

Rockefeller Tree
Best Shopping Centers & Malls
From Sawgrass Mills to the Falls, these are your best bets for malls.
 Tis The Season
Best South Florida Thrift Stores
Malls too expensive? Check out the bargains and be thrifty.
 Tis The Season
Best Swimsuit Shops In Miami
It’s South Florida, you have to have the perfect look for the beach!
 Shopping Around South Florida
Best Small Boutique With Big Fashion
The perfect place to find high fashion in a small store.