Drink in the History
A Booze-y Past.
Built by Pabst Brewery in 1911, 9th & State has been home to saloons, jazz clubs, burlesque shows, casinos, raves, fetish clubs — and who knows what other secrets lie buried in the past.
During Prohibition, the block between State Line and Genessee on 9th Street was known as “The Wettest Block in the World” for all the bars, saloons and liquor stores that served drinks to our neighbors in Kansas (which was dry at the time).
In the 1930s, this building was home to The Antler’s Club — a casino and jazz club where Charlie Parker and Buster Smith played.
In the past 20 years or so, several bars and clubs shared this address, including the Wild West Border Deli & Bar, Kilroy’s Tap Room, Fahrenheit 1717, Korruption, Negative Space and Club IX.
The Wettest Block in the World.
When Kansas went dry in 1881, Missouri stepped up. On the single block between State Line and Genesee on 9th Street, 24 out of the 25 buildings housed saloons or liquor stores. It became known nationally as “the wettest block in the world”. Today, only 3 of those buildings remain standing, and 9th & State is one of them — still proudly serving liquor to Kansas (and anyone else who wants to drop by).
Unpopular with this Broad.
Ahead of her time, Carrie Nation (aka Hatchet Granny) opposed alcohol even before Prohibition began. Working with the local branch of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, she campaigned for the enforcement of Kansas’ ban on liquor sales.
She started with simple protests, but found harder hitting ways to make her point — literally attacking bars and taverns with her hatchet.
In 1901, she was arrested in Kansas City, Missouri after destroying bottles of liquor at a local saloon. The judge waived the fine, instead ordering her to never ever return to Kansas City.
Good riddance.
