Drinking at the Oldest (Gay?) Bar in America
Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop
I had a beer in Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop. Established sometime before 1772 it’s the oldest continually occupied bar in America – a quaint watering hole with a rough brick interior and candles for lighting.
Confusingly, there’s another bar nearby called “Cafe Lafitte’s in Exile” that claims to be the oldest gay bar in America. What’s that all about?
Well, it seems Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop was a gay bar till the mid 1950s when a management change banished the homos and they went down the street to establish a new Lafitte’s “in exile”. I somehow never got around to visiting the exile bar so I’ll have to put that on the todo list for a future trip.
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