A Very Queer Street—Before there was North Halsted, there was 1300 N. Wells.
Long before the rainbow flags flew high on Chicago's North Side, a single block on Wells Street pulsed with the heat and heart of gay liberation. Carol's Speakeasy, Den One, the notorious Bijou Theater, Glory Hole Tavern, adult bookstores, backrooms, and cruising alleys—it was all there, hidden in plain sight on the east side of the 1300 block. And then it vanished.
In Chicago Memories: 1300 N. Wells, the lost world of 1970s and '80s queer nightlife roars back to life. Through candid interviews with patrons, bartenders, and performers, plus unearthed ads, articles, and forgotten ephemera, author Owen Keehnen uncovers the stories behind the storefronts. This is more than nightlife nostalgia—it's a raw, riveting portrait of a revolutionary era in Chicago's gay community.
From the acclaimed author of Man's Country: More Than a Bathhouse and Dugan's Bistro and the Legend of the Bearded Lady comes a thrilling excavation of LGBTQ+ history, sex, joy, danger, and resilience—just one block south of forgotten.