A Whiff of Prohibition San Francisco

Continuing on a Jones Street theme... I was recently lucky enough to have a tour of the original speakeasy basement at the popular bar Bourbon & Branch at the corner of Jones and O'Farrell. To gain entrance to the street level reservations-only bar, you ring the outside bell at the heavy, anonymous door and give a password to the doorman. The owners (who also run the newer, historical themed Rickhouse on Kearny) additionally created a back room called "The Library," which is reached from the main bar through a clever bookcase-disguised door, and does not require reservations. The decor in the library is theatrical, but evokes just the right mood. My only gripe is the white plastic(?) leafy modernist looking chandeliers, which almost blow the affect for me. Everything else was so carefully done it seems a shame that more evocative light fixtures couldn't be installed. But still, the proprietors' labour of love in bringing the bar about is clear to see and ultimately effective.

As our barman-guide related, the owners had planned on a speakeasy bar at this property before realizing that the address had been an actual illegal drinking establishment during Prohibition. In fact, as they discovered, the location at 501 Jones Street has been registered as a saloon since 1867. From 1923 the space next to the main bar was a "cigar store" run by a John J. Russell. Patrons in-the-know would request a certain brand of cigar, and a trap door in the floor would rise to admit them into the speakeasy below. The cigar store space has been vividly re-created, including a painted mirror sign featuring the original J.J. Russell logo, and can be rented for private events.

The basement renovation/re-creation is nearly done, but not yet open to the public as of this writing. The wooden trap door is original, as are the white marble surfaced stairs beneath it. Standing in the basement looking up, it's easy to imagine white kid leather high-heeled flapper shoes capering tipsily up and down the stairs for an evening of illicit slumming--perhaps in the company of more worldly ladies and their dangerous gents. The most wonderful thing about the basement is that an original mural on thin raw canvas still exists mounted on the north wall. It mostly consists of a primitively done, brown brick wall, but at the east end the bricks open up to a garden vista scene centered by a cypress tree. It's done in a charming, simple Beaux Arts style, and lends a palpable feeling of historicity to the room. The fabric must be infused with the hundreds of cigarettes, cigars, and wild escapades that took place down there--like an absorbant underworld shroud. Admirably, the owners don't plan to do anything at all to the painting, but intend to leave it as-is. I only hope that future patrons respect it, as it is such a unique and ephemeral treasure.

An escape tunnel still lies behind a bolted door in the basement of Bourbon & Branch, which apparently once led to a hotel on Leavenworth Street a block away. I wonder about such tunnels, many of which must still crisscross beneath the modern downtown streets, at least in remnants.

Another known speakeasy tunnel entrance can be found at the venerable House of Shields bar on New Montgomery, just across from the Palace Hotel. The House of Shields is notable for its still original interior, down to the huge oak bar and tiny hexagonal tiling on the floor. No theatrics here--the space is an authentic piece of San Francisco's past. The basement room is essentially undecorated (or was when I saw it a number of years ago), which is perhaps close to it's Prohibition condition? Large wood doors are located on the west wall. The story I've heard is that the tunnel connects to the Palace Hotel and allowed prosperous guests to easily and safely nip across the street for a little night life--their public reputations no worse for wear.

It seems safe to say that a primary result of Prohibition in San Francisco was to imbue alcoholic merry-making with an even more piquant enticement. A drunken, squealing dash through a dark tunnel must have been quite the end to an evening!