'My low rent saves you money,' noted one of her newspaper ads.

While Anton worked as an auto mechanic, Stella ran a dry goods and millinery store, which banked on its bargain prices. Scheerbarth, took over and stayed until around 1920, when Anton and Stella Bershas moved in. Nevertheless Peterson kept going until about 1913, when one of his young clerks, Irwin W. Poor Peterson may have been inexperienced at the till, however, because that same year he made the papers when he 'was caught by a ‘flim-flam’ man, who got a $5 bill by deterous manipulation of the change.' Interestingly, Goetz is described as a 'retired carpenter' in that year’s federal census, which masks the fact that he, himself, had been running a grocery in the building until 1887, when Leopold and Sidon Wieland took over the shop and the attached residence.īy 1894, Peterson had moved in and taken over the grocery, though members of the Goetz family are listed as the owners of the building as late as 1909. Goetz and his wife Wilhelmina are listed as living there.īy 1900, Goetz – who was born in Germany in 1839 and immigrated to America 20 years later – is living nearby, and Martin Peterson, the son of Norwegian immigrants, is operating a grocery store in the space. The building appears to date to the early 1880s when carpenter Joseph E. That adds him to a long list of proprietors of the place. 'I had already started the process of detaching myself from my current job,' he says, 'so, I decided I'm doing it any way. In the end, Kettering’s potential partner bowed out, but he dove in. 'So we had been looking at all kinds of bars all over Bay View and South Milwaukee and all over the place, but couldn't find anything that made sense, and she talked the owners (Toby Heney and Kurt Baldwin) into selling this place. I thought ‘Okay, I will invest in a bar if you find something that makes sense.’ She just desperately wanted a bar and she said. We'd been talking and her dream was to own a bar. She's a straight lady she just likes people. 'None whatsoever,' the trained engineer says with a laugh. Of course he brought a ton of tavern experience with him, right? 1, he’s getting a taste of life on the opposite side of the brass rail. He was long a regular at Woody’s, which opened as a gay bar in 1997. Kettering knows quite well what it’s like to sit on one side of the bar. 'I just added the Hofbrau Dunkel, because I want to make sure there’s something for everyone,' he says. Kettering has also worked to ensure that the taps offer a rainbow of brews. 'And high-end whiskey, a little surprisingly.' 'We do go through a lot of vodka here,' says owner Alan Kettering.

Especially a vodka drink, judging from the lineup on the back bar.

While the clientele has changed over the years at Milwaukee's only gay sports bar, what hasn’t is that the corner tavern is a welcoming place for camaraderie and a drink. It’s enough to make a grown tippler blush. 2nd St., in the Clock Tower Acres neighborhood at the southern edge of Walker’s Point.Īnyone who walks in and sees the vintage bar top that’s been in place for surely well over a half a century will agree. One of the best in Milwaukee is Woody’s at 1579 S.

This article first appeared in 2019 and we're sharing it again today in honor of Pride Week.

Magic bean woody