Publisher’s Note: The following article includes references to bars and the use of alcohol. With this article, Word on the Street is not advocating the practice of patronizing bars or the use of alcohol. We are simply looking at the history, past and current, of bars in the Marquette area. The responsible use of alcohol is a decision to be made by adults of at least 21 years of age. Any suggestions otherwise would require further discussion, which could take place at a bar of your choice. I’ll get the first round.
A Day to Remember
January 1st, 1972. Remember it? Looking back, there’s nothing incredibly remarkable about that day. As was their habit back then, Michigan lost the Rose Bowl. In celebrity news, French actor Maurice Chevalier died at the age of 83. And the song “Brand New Key” by Melanie was the top song on the charts.
I told you… nothing stands out, unless you were a big Maurice Chevalier fan.
But here in Michigan, turning the page on the calendar meant a whole new dynamic in every bar scene in the state, not the least of which was a college town like Marquette.
On January 1st, 1972, the drinking age in Michigan went from 21 to 18, and overnight, fortunes changed, both good and bad.
For bar owners, welcoming a new crowd of thirsty college kids meant a windfall for the bottom line. And thousands of kids, away from home and no longer under the thumb of watchful parents, were poised to take advantage of their newfound recreational pursuit…legalized drinking.
Prior to that day in 1972, Marquette’s bar scene was a lot different than what it is today. There weren’t any fashionable Ore Docks or Blackrocks or Honorable Distilleries… most were smaller, dimly lit establishments catering to their respective neighborhoods and an older clientele more likely to drop an egg in their beer than, heaven forbid, a slice of fruit.
Back in the Day
The Furnace Bar comes to mind as a convenient destination for the working men of north Marquette, stopping in for a shot and a beer before heading home to see what the wife had ready for dinner. But once the 18-year-old long-haired Northern students discovered a place where it only took a couple bucks to “get you there,” the Furnace was never the same.
No longer the Furnace, the Wooden Nickel, has become a kitschy dive bar where you might see everyone from area professionals to LS&I retirees to Northern alums returning to relive the past.
It Couldn’t Last Forever
The legal age of 18 lasted about six years. The party ended on December 22nd, 1978, when the age of legality changed to 19. Just a few weeks later it jumped to 21, and the young adults who’d been exercising their liberties, while excising their livers, were suddenly on the outside looking in.
What began as an effort to balance the fairness of being eligible for military service, with the right to have a beer with fellow vets, ended with a spike in auto accidents among the young, inexperienced drinkers.
The local bars that had been boosting their bottom line with mom and dad’s money likely meant for books or other such nonsense, had to retool for the new reality. The kids they’d been keeping hydrated for six years were back in their dorms and apartments getting reacquainted with what they were there for. The library? No longer just a bar in Houghton… it was that big building with all the books and micro something, or whatever. The party was over.
Making Hay out of Hops
One bar that was quick to respond to the change to 18 was the Brat House. It was opened in January of 1973, right across the street from Northern’s dorms, in the building currently housing the Motions gym.
Co-owner Jack Mahoney originally had hoped to buy Snuffy’s, a bar just a few miles up the Big Bay highway, but when the property on Wright Street became available, he jumped. What could go wrong? As it turns out… nothing. Until, of course, that day the music died.
The Brat House was the bar of choice for carless dorm rats, coeds, and guys looking for coeds. Cheap beer, a dance floor, games on the TV’s, and usually a packed house. I don’t recall if there were actual brats… the meat kind, served there. Didn’t seem to matter.
Also not far from campus was the North End. To call it a dive bar might be setting the dive bar bar too low. It was a dump. But back in the day, a foosball table and drafts for a quarter was all you needed. With some fixing up, the North End ultimately became Whiskers, then the Overtime Sports Bar, and now nothing. Immediate proximity to the dome apparently wasn’t enough to keep it profitable.
Geez, I’m already at 800 words and I haven’t even got anywhere near downtown Marquette. I guess that helps justify Jeff Daniels’ description of the Upper Peninsula when he appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman. When asked about the U.P., Daniels said, “There’s a lot to do. Actually what you can do up there, and they do it really well, is drink.”
He’s not wrong. Whether the drinking age is 18 or 19 or 21, folks up here enjoy their suds. Maybe it’s the long winters.
A Different Kind of Bar Crawl – Tomorrow Night!
Someday I’ll take a deeper dive into what I know of Marquette’s well-earned reputation as a party town, with stories about things like the legendary Peanut Night at Andy’s, seen above. But for now, there’s a better way to find out about our bar scene, past and present.
Tomorrow night you can join Jim Koski on another one of his local history tours, this being “Happy Hour: The Legendary Bars of Marquette and the Stories You May (Or May Not) Remember.”
The tour will go in depth with info about a local industry that has been a part of the fabric of Marquette for a long time. According to Jim, “I don’t think people who weren’t of legal drinking age before 1980 realize just how wild the bar scene was back in the ‘golden age’, and just how fondly so many people remember the establishments in which they drank, even if they may not remember exactly they did IN those places.”
I touched on just a couple of our more notable drinking holes, but Jim says, belly up to the bar, because we’re nowhere near last call. “It may surprise people to know that Marquette has a long history with bars and saloons. At one time, there were fifty–50–of them lining Washington and Front Street. There were a lot of them in places people today might not realize.”
No Apologies
I don’t know if having a lot of bars is something to be proud of. I’ve never seen it on a Travel Marquette poster. But it’s who we are, and who we’ve been. And it’s a big part of the story of Marquette.
You can join Jim as he walks through downtown Marquette sharing stories that may or may not jog a few memories. Meet at the Marquette Regional History Center at 6:30.
There’s a $5 suggested donation, which, I believe, would have gotten you 25 shells at the old Elite… now the Third Base. I was told.