The Cherry Street Tavern

The Cherry Street Tavern is a bar and restaurant at 22nd and Cherry Streets in the Logan Square neighborhood of Philadelphia. It is notable as a local landmark that has operated in the same location since the early 1900s.[1] The bar was bought by local high school football legend John "Tex" Flannery (1922-2007) in 1972. [2] Flannery was football coach at John Bartram High School from 1944 through 1947 and at La Salle College High School from 1953 until 1984. Flannery sold the bar to brothers Bill and Bob Loughery in 1990.[3][4] Bill had started working for Tex full-time at the tavern in 1976. [5]

Cherry Street Tavern
Restaurant information
Established1905
Street address22nd and Cherry Streets
CityPhiladelphia
StatePennsylvania
CountryUSA
Coordinates39.957°N 75.17583°W / 39.957; -75.17583

History

The tavern was first licensed as a bar in 1905. During Prohibition, the bar itself was removed from the building and replaced with a barber's chair, and the tavern was transformed into a barber shop, although men went there for more than a haircut. At the time, women had to enter the tavern through the "ladies' entrance," a rear door leading into a back room, as only men were allowed into the bar room.

A disused urinal trough runs along the base of the bar. At one time, patrons could drink, eat, and urinate at the same time.[1]

In a 1981 profile of Tex Flannery entitled "No School's like Old School", the Philadelphia Daily News described the Cherry Street Tavern as "cave-dark, cave-cool, cave-quiet", and said that it had no jukebox.[6]

Before it was the Cherry Street Tavern, the establishment was Dever's Bar. [7] In February, 1971, the bartender of Dever's was arrested for selling New Jersey Lottery tickets at face value at the bar. [8] This arrest pre-dated the launch of the official Pennsylvania Lottery less than six months later.

The Philadelphia Inquirer called the bar "John J. Devers' taproom at 22d and Cherry sts." in a May 1, 1940, piece describing the late-night attempted theft and ultimate destruction of "25 quart bottles of bottled-in-bond liquor".[9]

For the 2002 film Bitters and Blue Ruin, the Cherry Street Tavern served both as one of the sites for the filmmakers' weekly writing meetings and also as a shooting location. [10]

See also

References
  1. McGinnis, Tim (November 21, 2007). "Fly, Turkeys, Fly". Philadelphia Weekly. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011.
  2. Henninger, Danya (January 25, 2016). "Cherry Street Tavern: 'Just a neighborhood taproom in Center City'". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  3. Silary, Ted (November 5, 2007). "Legendary coach mixed wins with metaphors". Philadelphia Daily News.
  4. Owens, John (April 30, 2019). "A Neighborhood Institution". Medium. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  5. Hans, Jennifer (July 8, 2005). "Hot Nights Cool Bars: Cherry Street Tavern". Courier-Post. p. 22SC.
  6. Hochman, Stan (February 26, 1981). "No School's Like Old School". The Philadelphia Daily News. p. 60.
  7. Birch, Tanya (2015). Vintage Philadelphia: A Guide to the City's Shops, Bars, Delis, & More. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot. pp. 25–28. ISBN 9781493012619.
  8. "Phila. Cracks Down on N.J. Lottery Sales". Courier-Post. February 26, 1971. p. 24.
  9. "Bar Thieves' Haul Crashes in Gutter". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 1, 1940. p. 23.
  10. Squadrito, Cheryl (December 9, 2001). "Cheap Thrills: Using Inexpensive Technology and Local Talent, Young Filmmakers Have Completed a Movie for the Underwhelming Cost of $25,000". Courier-Post. p. F1.
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