The Side Door also features a disco." The Side Door is named because it advertises its address as the side entrance address, 212 E.
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The new bar is an expanded version of the old bar, with plus carpeting and a giant-size TV screen. The August 1976 issue of the local " GLIB Guide" is seemingly a last mention of the River Queen, reading: "Another familiar bar, the River Queen closed, remodeled and reopened as the Side Door. The last half of the 1970s sees a succession of name changes to the bar. Although few patrons knew or understood the Cross Keys’s glorious past, everyone wanted a piece of the River Queen. The River Queen closed temporarily, and then closed forever. “Detectives say that homosexuals, like prostitutes, are often valuable sources of information about criminal activity,” reported the Milwaukee Journal. Investigators traveled the Midwest to obtain shadowy testimonials, but the case was dismissed without charges. (by both bartenders and prostitutes) and sometimes fired bullets into the ceiling. Officers were allegedly served at the bar until 7:00 a.m.
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To avoid harassment, O’Connor had provided cash payoffs, expensive gifts, cases of liquor, and unlimited free drinks to over 50 policemen and their wives for years. In January 1976, the River Queen was the scene of a massive police corruption scandal. Overwhelmed, Barry sold the business to James O’Connor in 1973.
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Unfortunately, the bar’s license was in constant jeopardy, possibly due to its alleged affiliation with organized crime. Decked out in crystal chandeliers and red velvet, the River Queen is remembered as the finest lounge of its time, where Liberace, Milton Berle, Paul Lynde, and Carol Channing cocktailed.
When Al Barry opened the River Queen in 1971, the Cross Keys was the last building on the block. The Crystal Palace, a saloon specializing in banjo players and piano singalongs, attracted gay customers from the Plankinton Avenue strip throughout the 1960s. Surrounded by warehouses “one sneeze away from falling over,” the building seemed doomed. Historian/ researcher Michail Takach explains more of the history of the Cross Keys and River Queen in his book, "LGBT Milwaukee":īuilt in 1853, the Cross Keys Hotel (400 North Water Street) once hosted Pres. The bar is generally accepted as being frequented by "gay" national celebrities when in town for local shows or performances: these include Liberace (actually a Milwaukee-area native), Milton Berle, Paul Lynde, and others. In its later years it was often referred to as a drag bar, although it continued to draw a mixed group. The River Queen had a relatively long life, and ranged from a dance bar to a popular hang-out bar, the bar in which everyone was seen at one point or another. Opened by Al Berry who had run the Rooster bar, the River Queen was rumored at the time to be backed by Chicago mob money. One of Milwaukee's most legendary gay and drag bars, The River Queen bar was one of several gay bars housed in a building originally known as the Cross Keys Hotel (built in 1853). River Queen- Bars and Clubs- Businesses in the History of Gay & Lesbian Life, Milwaukee WI History