The Oldest Taverns In Iowa City – 1933 To Today.

They say that prostitution is the world’s oldest profession. If that’s true, then certainly the noble job of running a local tavern just might come in second! Here in Iowa City, the history of taverns goes way back to our earliest years…

Welcome to Allens – located on The National Road as it came into the north end of town. Allens – as it became known – was Iowa City’s first “hotel/tavern” – where multiple visitors to our fair community could have a roof over their heads, a hot meal, a few drinks, and a place to sleep. Sorry – no room service! City records indicate that all this became “official” when on October 9th, 1839, pioneers Asaph Allen and George T. Andrews paid a $30 licensing fee, the newly-appointed city commissioners issued a certificate, and just like that, Iowa City had its first “official” hotel/tavern! *You can read more about Iowa City’s earliest “hotel/taverns” here.*

Welcome To Lean-Back Hall – located at the southern end of The National Road. With the announcement of upcoming land sales in the fall of 1839, one of Iowa City’s earliest settlers – Capt. Frederick M. Irish – sprang into action, throwing up a very temporary building – literally in the span of just a few days! The 75′ long x 8′ wide Lean-Back Hall was made of stripped-bark poles with slabs of wood for siding and was built on Block 61 – the NE corner of Washington Street and Linn Street (see map above) facing west.

Lean-Back Hall was divided into three sections – 1) a grocery store on one side, 2) a kitchen/dining area and tavern on the other, and 3) a large open space in the middle – a sleeping floor for up to 36 “not too big” men. Women guests were curtained off with a hanging blanket, and the floor was strewn with wild hay to soften the guest’s sleep! Historian Benjamin Shambaugh tells us that during the August 19th & October 7th land sales of 1839, occasional breaks would be taken throughout the day – with the whole proceedings moving over to the Lean Back Hall for a few sips of whiskey! *You can read more here.*

Welcome to Buck Grocery – located in a log cabin on the east side of **Dubuque Street between College & Burlington**. By the 1840’s, general stores were popping up all across Iowa City, but only one of those establishments – Buck Grocery – was selling “spirituous or vinous liquors – retailed by less quantities than one gallon”. Buck’s became well-known to Iowa Citians, and could be picked out by the pair of deer antlers that hung over the front door.

Interestingly, prior to the 1850’s, the term “grocery” actually meant a drinking establishment such as a tavern or saloon, and since ole’ C.H. Buck wanted to pay a lessor annual license fee – (i.e. “a tavern or grocery” license cost more than a “general store” license) – he found a loophole in the new Territorial law that said he could still be called a “grocery” – paying the “general store” license – if he would sell alcohol “in quantities of a gallon of less”. Sneaky, huh? So, at Buck’s, you could buy your general store items like coffee, sugar, gun powder, etc., and also pick up a one-gallon container of whiskey! Cheers! *You can read more Iowa City ‘firsts” here.*

***By 1860, there were three major breweries in Iowa City:*** 1. **Englert City Brewery (1853)**, 2. **Hotz & Geiger Brewery (1857)** **3. Great Western Brewery** **(1857)**. By the 1880’s, these three Iowa City breweries (all located within two city blocks of each other) were doing a bang-up business in beer production. One old-timer recalled that our Iowa City beer was so good, it was “the beer that made Milwaukee jealous”. *You can read more here.*

In 1857, Louis Englert expanded his beer-making business by opening a small one-story tavern/inn on North Dubuque Street, just south of Terrell’s Mill. Englert’s inn not only brought a cool beverage to hot and thirsty farmers who were waiting for hours until their time came to process their crops at Terrell’s, but it also served as a stagecoach stop/dining area on The National Road as well. Family records show that the 1857 building had three large rooms, with the largest being a walk-out 20′ x 20′ space that served as the saloon. It had a nine-foot ceiling, with one whole wall of windows and doors that looked out toward Terrell’s Mill to the north and west. *You can read more about the Englert home here.*

While we don’t know the exact location of this tavern (Dwelling #2932 in Iowa City Township), the U.S. Census taker – Assistant Marshal James Thompson – on July 23, 1860, found that saloon keepers – C.W. North & Frank Clark – were serving MORE than just liquor to their customers!

While most know about the huge prohibition battle across America in the 1920’s, fewer know that the people of Iowa actually struggled with this issue long before it ever came onto the national stage. In 1847, for example, only months after Iowa statehood, the Iowa State Legislature passed a law that restricted the sale of alcohol by limiting the number of liquor licenses granted in a township. In 1851, “dram shops” (bars) were prohibited statewide, but many retailers navigated around that law by opening taverns that combined food and housing options alongside the sale of liquor. In 1855, an outright ban on alcohol was put into place but the law included a local option, allowing Iowa’s counties to decide whether or not they would be “dry.” Johnson County, during this time, chose to be a “wet” county, opening the door for the big expansion of three breweries we mentioned earlier. But, as you can see from the chart above, here in Iowa, full prohibition returned on January 1, 1916, closing up all of our taverns and breweries. And from 1920-1933, when the whole nation went ‘dry’, sadly, all of Iowa City’s existing taverns closed their doors forever. *You can read more here.*

This brings us now to January 1920 and the “Noble Experiment”. National prohibition of alcohol was called just that, because, while it was an attempt by well-meaning people to stop the abuse often associated with liquor, it quite honestly, did nothing but send our age-old love of alcohol underground. In actuality, prohibition spawned the creation of the speakeasy, bootlegging, racketeering, moonshining, and alcohol smuggling. Here in Iowa City, with taverns and breweries already closing by 1916, we had our good share of bootleggers and moonshiners during the 1920’s and 30’s. *You can read more here.*

Prohibition officially ended on December 5, 1933 with ratification by all states of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution. Earlier in 1933, the Cullen-Harrison Act was passed which raised the permitted alcohol level of ‘near-beer’ to 3.2% from 0.5%. During Prohibition, numerous brewers had produced a ‘near-beer’ product which adhered to the statutory 0.5% level and was considered a soft drink.

Iowa approved 3.2% beer sales on April 15, 1933 and Iowa City issued its first permits soon after, on April 20, 1933. Since that time, of course, Iowa has changed its definition of ‘beer’ several times to increase the permitted alcohol content. Below is a 1933-1934 timeline of the return of legal alcohol to Iowa City…

In looking for Iowa City’s oldest remaining taverns, it’s obvious that very few of the establishments receiving beer (liquor) permits (see above sample from Dubuque) between 1933 – 1939 remain in business today. State beer permits – issued at the city level – were approved only for one location and to one individual who was responsible for that location. And, the state was very clear on the fact that a Class B permit was not transferable! So, in that context, only a handful of the establishments that were issued Class B permits during that first six years can be considered for our list today. With that in mind, here are the four oldest taverns of Iowa City that are still in existence today:

With the receipt of his Class B permit on April 28, 1933, Joe Vitosh immediately advertises the “formal opening” of Joe’s Place for the next day: Saturday, April 29 at 130 S. Dubuque Street.

This popular tavern would move to 119 S. Dubuque Street and 7 S. Dubuque Street over the years before finally arriving at 115 Iowa Avenue in 1945, where it has resided since. So, at first glance, it appears that Joe’s Place just might take the title for “the oldest tavern in Iowa City”, but as we will discuss later, there is a small “name” break away from Joe’s Place in 1935. As we said, more on that later…

Charles Alberhasky received a Class B license for his Fox Head Tavern at 402 E. Market Street on June 15, 1934, and opened later that summer. Apparently, the city council decided in June 1935 to reduce the number of city licenses and revoked five taverns, including the Fox Head, only to re-instate the tavern one month later, on July 22, 1935. The city assessor indicates the Fox Head building at the corner of Market and Gilbert Streets dates back to 1890.

Located across from John’s Grocery and just a block from George’s, The Fox Head is the oldest standing tavern in the Iowa City downtown area. The bar consists of a long rectangular building with windows and three concrete steps leading to door. Inside, you’ll find an actual fox head just above the bar, along with a pheasant and a few framed photographs.

***Here’s The Hilltop Tavern as photographed in 1992.***

Joseph A. Helmer applied for a Class B liquor license for his grocery store at 1032 N. Summit Avenue and received it on April 21, 1933. In 1935, as a result of the new beer ordinance, Helmer’s Grocery received a Class C license. Upon construction of an addition to the grocery building, Helmer applied for a new Class B license with an address of 1100 N. Dodge Street and received it on Friday, July 24, 1936, calling it Helmer’s Tavern. Within the next year, the bar was re-named Hilltop Tavern – honoring the old neighborhood name of Rees’ Hill. You can read more here, thanks to author/researcher – Derek (D.K.) Engelen of Iowa City.

George Kanak managed hotels at the time of prohibition repeal and initially received beer permits associated with the Central House and Hotel Jefferson (1933). He proceeded to build George’s Buffet at 312 E. Market Street in 1938-1939, received a Class B permit effective on September 26, 1938 and opened his doors for business on Thursday, February 16, 1939.

***Here’s a full-page “congratulations” to George’s Buffet published in the February 18, 1939 edition of The Press-Citizen.***

Homecoming 1939 – a day that will stand out in the memories of all Hawkeye fans. It’s this game on November 18, 1939 when Nile Kinnick, single-handedly, took on the #20-ranked Minnesota Gophers, defeating them 13-9. *You can read more here.*

**On Friday, November 17, 1939, George’s Buffet was one of the advertisers (below right) in the Homecoming edition of The Press-Citizen…**

George Kanak was a deputy to the Iowa City city assessor, and in 1948, he sold the bar to Clarence Ruppert: the man that would end up establishing the bar’s open affinity for Hamm’s beer. Ruppert owned the bar until 1953, and eventually sold it to Edward Kriz, who lived in the apartment above the tavern with his wife, Bernice. Sadly, Kriz died the early morning hours of November 10, 1962, the victim of a gunshot wound. After closing the bar, Kriz routinely joined his wife at Hamburg Inn, and on that particular morning, Kriz and his wife encountered a would-be robber wearing a Halloween mask, who fired a number of shots at Kriz without provocation. Sadly, the crime remains unsolved to this day. After Kriz’s death, the bar was bought from his widow by Jim Wallace, who eventually sold it to current owner, Mike Karr in 1989.

On the personal side, George’s was the main hangout for all Hawkeye Marching Band members when I was in school (1969-1972). I recall attending numerous “night classes” there while I was a music major at Iowa! Read more here.

So, there you have it: the four oldest taverns in Iowa City that are still in existence today:

Joe’s Place, The Fox Head, Hilltop Tavern, and George’s Buffet. Each one – continuously* serving our community over the last 85+ years. But, as inquiring minds want to know: which of these four watering holes is Iowa City’s oldest surviving tavern?

* In determining the answer to that question, we must, first of all, decide the criteria! For example, if one goes by the earliest Class B liquor license issued by the city, the prize goes to The Hilltop Tavern‘s first owner: Joe Helmer of Helmer’s Tavern on April 21, 1933.

* If one goes by the longest running history in one location, the prize must then go to The Fox Head Tavern – located at 402 E. Market Street since the summer of 1934.

* If one decides to go by the longest running history of a tavern with the same name (but in multiple locations) – the winner is Joe’s Place in downtown Iowa City. But, as we mentioned earlier, here’s the big rub on Joe’s Place “continuous service since 1933” claim…

Iowa City tavern historian Derek (D.K.) Engelen – who’s article “Iowa City’s Oldest Taverns” has been a great resource in the writing of this page, reminds us that Joe’s Place has a problematic detail when it comes to its claim of “continuous service since 1933”. As you can see from the Irving Weber article above (August 7, 1982), Weber points out that when Joe Vitosh – the original owner of Joe’s Place – sold his bar to Harold Donnelly in 1935, Donnelly changed the name to Donnelly’s. It’s only when Charlie James – August 4, 1936 – bought the signage from the original Joe’s Place when the bar “officially” re-opened under the Joe’s Place name. So, in fact, while the name – Joe’s Place – goes back to 1933, the “continuous service from 1933” date can not be claimed. In truth, it’s “continuous service from 1936”!

* So, in conclusion, we throw in George’s Buffet – 1938/1939 – which came in soon after each of the first three – and we are back with our four oldest surviving taverns in Iowa City!

Our suggestion? Let’s form an “Iowa City’s Oldest Tavern” committee, and schedule weekly research meetings, rotating, of course, our deep discussions & first-hand experiments at all four locations! Cheers!