Slippery Noodle Inn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Slippery Noodle Inn is a large blues bar and restaurant with two performance stages in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. It also has the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating bar in the state of Indiana, having opened in 1850 as the Tremont House.
The Inn served as a stop on the Underground Railroad during the American Civil War. During prohibition it was called a restaurant although beer was still being made in the basement, and later it housed a brothel until 1953.
The Inn is the oldest commercial building in the city. Its tin ceiling dates to 1890 and the oak bar is also over a century old. The Inn has operated under its current name since 1963, and has hosted many legendary blues performers during that time.
[edit] History
Originally, the inn was a roadhouse and a bar. It has traditionally been owned by people of German descent and it was one of the first German clubs in Indianapolis. The Noodle has been through several name changes over the years. In the 1860s, it was known as the Concordia House, derived from the first German Lutheran immigrant ship to land in the new world, the Concord.
In later years, the name was changed to the Germania House, which it remained until the start of World War I. At the time, anti-German sentiment was high, so the owner, Louis Beck, changed the name to Beck's Saloon. Prior to Prohibition, Walter Moore purchased the saloon and named it Moore's Beer Tavern. During Prohibition, it was renamed Moore's Restaurant, although beer was still made in the basement. After Prohibition ended in 1935, it was renamed Moore's Beer Tavern. In the late 1940s, Boris Petercheff purchased the saloon. Boris ran the tavern until early 1963, when Emelia Finehout, the property owner, took over. She did not enjoy running a tavern, and promptly put the business up for sale.
Harold and Lorean Yeagy (Hal’s parents) bought the bar in late 1963, taking final possession on December, Friday the 13th. The "Slippery Noodle Inn" was named by Hal's dad after a lengthy family debate (Hal was six years old). The Noodle has remained in the Yeagy family since that time. Hal took over the bar in 1985 after his father's death and since that time, it has grown from a one-room lunch counter into the Midwest's premier blues club.
During the Civil War, the Inn was a way station for the Underground Railroad. Later, a bordello operated on the premises until 1953, when two johns got into an argument over one of the women, one killing the other and leaving the bloody knife on the bar. During Prohibition, the Brady and Dillinger gangs used the building in back, originally built as a horse stable for the Inn, for target practice. Several of the slugs remain embedded in the lower east wall. In addition to liquor and beer being distilled in the building, cattle and swine were slaughtered and butchered in the basement. The meat hooks and water lines can still be found in the basement.
The ceiling in the front barroom is made from pressed tin. It was installed circa 1890. The "tiger oak" bar and back bar are well over 100 years old and believed to be original. The trough at the edge of the bar was used as the cash register in the olden days. The "honor" system worked or else the Colt .45 did! The Noodle is the oldest commercial building left standing in Indianapolis and the Tremont House sign painted on the north side of the building dates back to the 1850s.
In 2003, the inn received the Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Award as Blues Club of the Year from the Blues Foundation.
