Montrose Mining Company closed in 2016 to make way for Postino Montrose.Ĭourtesy photo Then: Montrose Mining Company See if you can spot the pink triangle on Blacksmith’s floor, a node to the bar. Now: Blacksmith, a trendy coffee shop that slings cortados and chai lattes, stands where Mary’s once was. Mary’s closed in 2009 and that memorial area is now a parking lot. Balls.ĭuring the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, ashes of beloved bargoers and community members were scattered in the backyard garden. Mary’s also had murals depicting regular customers and the bar cat, Mr. It was the oldest gay bar in Houston and the second oldest in Texas, its pink brick building the host of many parties, especially during the annual Pride Parade. Previously called Tommy’s Lounge, Joe and Mike Anthony bought the bar around 1970, according to Houston LGBT History, and renamed it Mary’s.
Mary’s was arguably the most iconic of Houston’s gay bars. Parade goers crowd the sidewalk and roof of Mary’s, a landmark gay bar in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood.īen DeSoto/Houston Chronicle Then: Mary’s, Naturally La Grange still hosts drag shows and the occasional fundraiser for LGBTQ causes. Now: The EJ’s space is currently taken up by La Grange, a Tex-Mex restaurant and cocktail bar with a huge patio. This is the price we pay for greater acceptance in the mainstream community, but our community has found other ways to connect and support each other, and that is something to celebrate.” The last owner of EJ’s posted a long message to the bar’s Facebook page explaining the circumstances of the closure, concluding with: “While I believe there will always be a need for LGBT bars, the writing is on the wall for the need for so many LGBT bars. Both bars were packed with entertainment from jock strap contests to drag performances by Rainbo de Klown. According to Houston LGBT History, the original owners also operated Inside/Outside, which is now Present Company. The exterior of Georgia James, now also closed.ĮJ’s Bar was around for 40 years, from 1974 to 2014, first on Richmond Avenue and then on Ralph Street just off Westheimer. The land has been sold to a Dallas-based company, but there’s no word yet on a new leasee.
Now: Chances became a series of restaurants by Chris Shepherd-Underbelly, Hay Merchant and Georgia James-which are now all closed.
When Chances closed in 2010, the Houston Press reported that it would become “a high-end restaurant, with a superstar chef that are keeping under wraps for now.” Flyers collected by Houston LGBT History show that there was always live music at Chances, which had separate rooms throughout the venue, including The Barn and The G-Spot.
Owner Marlene Beago hosted regular fundraisers at the bar. Molly Glentzer / Houston Chronicle Then: ChancesĬhances opened in 1994 at 1100 Westheimer as a bar that catered to lesbians in particular, and others in the LGBTQ community. During the AIDS crisis, patrons affixed photographs of friends to the surface of the bar. We take a look a handful of queer icons and what stands in their place today.Ī detail of one of the fragments reclaimed from Mary’s… Naturally from a 2021 exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston. The celebration has since moved downtown, the gayborhood’s counterculture vibe encroached on by million-dollar townhomes, and while some remain-such as Eagle and Ripcord-many of Montrose’s storied gay bars are now shuttered. Montrose was once Houston’s epicenter of LGBTQ+ culture and political organization and the home of the Houston Pride Parade.