History of Gay and Lesbian Life in Wisconsin - Businesses - Bars and Clubs

 
Emeralds Bar & Lounge
Location: 801 E. Hadley Street, Milwaukee WI

Opened:
Closed:

April 1997
June 2002
Clientele:

Male/ female
Bar/ dance club

 
     
 

Emeralds Bar and Lounge opened in April 1997. It listed "Daily Specials" in In-Step magazine starting in In-Step issue v14-19.

The bar appears to have advertised only a few times; we have located one ad, in the v14-10 issue of In Step (in May 1997). And we have thus far located only a single mention of the bar after its opening: in the v17-09 (v17-09) issue of In-Step magazine, when an article on a Pageant run by Charles D Productions mentions that advance tickets are available at Emeralds Bar & Lounge. From this, and its location, we can surmise the bar catered largely to the African American (Black) LGBT community.

The last listing for the bar in 'Daily Specials' was in the June 2002 (v19-12) issue of In-Step newspaper, after which listings disappear; so we assume the bar had closed about that time.

(Note that this bar had no affiliation with the "Miss Emerald City USA" drag pageants, which were based at Za's Bar in Green Bay in the 1994+ timeframe. There was also an "Emerald City Nightclub" opened in Antioch, Illinois in mid-1997; again, no known affiliation.)

Any additional information is available from anyone willing to contribute it.

Mention at very end of article about
Mr. & Ms. Mystique Pageant
sponsored by Charles D Productions
(In Step vol 17-09, May 2000)
 
 
 
 


Advertisement
(In-Step magazine, vol. 14-07, April 3-17, 1997)


Advertisement
(In-Step magazine, vol. 14-10, May 14-29, 1997)


The building in 2007
(Google images)

Credits: bar history by Don Schwamb.
Last updated: October-2022.

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