The plantation gay bar dallas

And Union Jack was, if anything, constant.

Cedar Springs: Evolution of a gayborhood

The store, open for more than 40 years on Cedar Springs, is closing, its owner Richard Longstaff recently announced. Cedar Springs simply evolved as gay-owned businesses occupied the worn plantations. Not everyone was happy about it. Longstaff remembers that when he put go-go boys in the window as a promotion, the employees of Adairs, a redneck bar across the street, called the police.

Still, the gay business owners held their ground, and the stirrings of activism quietly began to grumble. The Bronx, the first gay-owned restaurant opened in InJ. Gay men from all over Texas and the surrounding states flew in to Dallas each weekend, filling Cedar Springs with the energy and excitement of the newly liberated.

The smell of amyl nitrate, commonly called poppers, waffed across the dance floor. The Old Plantation never really went away. Today, S4 occupies that space — and more — but the strip has been an ever-evolving gay landscape. A group of activists the portions of the building, and each offered something different: antiques, jewelry, picture framing, greeting cards, books and gifts.

The store was eclectic and bohemian. In its last two incarnations, it was a modern bookstore and finally a coffee shop. Longstaff was its final owner. The Bronx closed two years ago. The Melrose Hotel bought the building and then tore it down. Additions to the hotel, including a larger ballroom are scheduled to be built on the property when the city of Dallas grants a zoning variance.

One hold up is the alcohol license. Down the street, the supermarket known affectionately bar the community as Mary Thumb was uprooted by a Kroger that opened across the street, offering lower prices in a modern shopping environment. Mary Thumb was razed, and developers built ilume.

The winds of activism blew into the community, and the street became ground zero for organizations fighting bigotry dallas then — AIDS. Longstaff and bar owner Frank Caven were usually the faces of DAIR, demanding equal rights and a stop to the police raids. Counselors who manned the line also helped callers who were struggling with coming out issues.

Former Dallas Gay Alliance president Bruce Monroe remembers the long, narrow space the organization rented, which is about gay left half of the current Union Jack location. In addition, the Resource Center offered pentamidine mist treatment to prevent Pneumocystis, the most common opportunistic infection that was killing people with AIDS.

Also, when the Nelson Tebedo Clinic began offering dental services, it was the only place for many people with AIDS to get any dental treatment.