Kid Cann, ca. 1935. Photo by George E. Luxton.

The bathroom of the Pioneer Hotel (125 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis), 1960s. Unlike conventional hotels, the Pioneer was closer to a dormitory, with a shared bathroom on each floor. In 1953, there were ten men to every toilet in the Gateway District. Photograph by Dick Palen.

The Persian Palms Nightclub (109 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis), shown here in 1961, was one of the most popular venues in the Gateway District. Skid Row was famous for its bars in the Post-World War II era, but most of its permanent residents could not actually afford to frequent them. Instead, they catered to Minneapolitans, and out-state workers in town with money to burn. The Palms was known for burlesque shows, a backroom which was popular with the Twin Cities’ LGBTQ community, and waitresses who worked with the bouncers to extort the gullible and well-heeled.

The coat room in the Beaufort Hotel (112 3rd Street South, Minneapolis), May 5, 1961.

Interior of the Stockholm Bar (33–35 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis), 1960.

Bottle dump in the basement of the Pioneer Hotel (125 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis), August 12, 1960. Because most of the buildings in Gateway were repurposed from large office buildings, many had cavernous brick basements. At the Pioneer Hotel, empty bottles of Hamm’s beer, Gluek’s beer, and Franzia muscatel were dropped down a chute into the basement and disposed of once the chute backed up.

The lobby of the Pioneer Hotel (125 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis), August 3, 1960.

Interior of the Corner Grocery (129 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis), August 3, 1860.
Holding location: Hennepin County Library

Lived-in room at the Pioneer Hotel (125 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis), August 3, 1960. The Pioneer Hotel rented out rooms by the week, and by the month to seasonal workers and railroad pensioners. Photograph by Dick Palen.