Galveston Gay Bars
Through the Years


 

Also See
Robert's Lafitte, Some History

Galveston Splash 1979 & More

Kon Tiki Club

Mary's II

360° Photos:

Robert's Lafitte   

23rd Street Station

Rumors Beach Bar 

You may notice that some of the same addresses show up with different bars in them...clubs moved around and took over the same spaces

This page will travel through the years of Galveston gay bar ads.

And, No, the Bamboo Hut (on the beach) was not really a gay club,
though you would not know that during Spash Weekend in the late 1970s.

First, a couple of general articles, from 2001 & 2004


Robert's Lafitte, Garza's Kon Tiki, Venture-N, Evolution, Purgatory

Read more of the special Galveston issue, 5/4/01, PDF


Robert's Lafitte, Garza's Kon Tiki, Third Coast, Undercurrent

Article on South Padre Island, Galveston,
and Corpus Christi, April 1976
PDF


A comment on this data...the clippings provide a loose timeline effect, but...

Sharp readers may notice there are not clippings for every year, but this should not
be taken to mean bars were not open those years. Instead it could be a comment on
the times and a reflection on the gay press. For one thing, the gay press was in
Houston and these clubs were 50 miles away, so advertizing may not always have
seemed like a worthwhile investment . Also, in some years it would be more of a
reflection on the press itself. A main media choice was This Week in Texas (TWT),
and that publication was dormant much of the 2000s and spotty in the late 2000s at
best, as was the Houston Voice after around 2006. And in the recent digital years
ads would only exist online and then would be gone.

Bar Ads
in chronological order

1966

  
Glory Hole

1968

   
Scarlet Angel

1970

   
Gym Baths

1975

 
Kon Tiki, Mary's II, Robert's Lafitte

1976


Kon Tiki, Fruit Jar, Mary's II, Robert's Lafitte

  
Mary's II
(in PDF) Fruit Jar, Paradise, Dirty Sally's, Robert's Lafitte

Ciao, April, 1976, Read Article, PDF

1977


Mary's II


Robert's Lafitte

1978

  
Robert's Lafitte, Kon Tiki, Silver Palace, Guest House Lounge

1979


Mary's II, Robert's Lafitte, Kon Tiki, Islandia Motel, The Fly


Bamboo Hut

  
Islandia Motel, Some Other Bar, Mary's II, The Fly, Robert's Lafitte, Kon Tiki

  
Silver Palace Saloon

1980

  
Islandia Motel, Kon Tiki, Robert's Lafitte

1981

  
South 40, Mary's II

1982

  
Kon Tiki, Robert's Lafitte, An'Us, The Fly (and...wouldn't the Anus be on the other side of The Fly?)


Mary's II

K
Kon Tiki, Robert's Lafitte, Silver Palace Saloon, The Fly


Silver Palace Saloon, Mary's II

1983

  
Kon Tiki, Robert's Lafitte, Silver Palace Saloon, The Fly


Trammp's, Kon Tiki, Silver Palace Saloon, The Fly

  
Ritz

1984

  

back when the Houston businesses used to organize Splash trips to Galveston


Trammp's, Mary's II

1985

   

Trammps, apparently a grand opening of the New Trammps

   

1986

  

1987

must have been an off year for the Galveston bars....no ads?

1988


Garbo's, Kon Tiki


Garbo's

1989

1990

  
Garbo's, Greta's, Mary's II

Above, photo by Gary Jackson of Terry Losiewitz, 1991, at Mary's II

1991

   

1992

  

1993


Ocean Cabaret

  
Robert's Lafitte

[ these gaps are more of a commentary on there being not many
gay publications in which to advertize than on the clubs'
desire to do that ]

1999

 

  

Sanddollar Saloon

2000

2002

2004+

    
Third Coast, Garza's Kon Tiki, Robert's Lafitte, Undercurrent, Pink Dolphin

  
Third Coast

  
Pink Dolphin
...and, this article says Lafittes opened in 1955, no, it was 1965

Recent Outsmart Articles:

A Gay Night Out in Galveston: The Best Island Bar Crawl Around (7/1/16)

Galveston’s Invisible LGBT History (7/1/16)

Galveston Ho! OutSmart bellies up to the bar at 3rd Coast’s hot new
location to have a drink with Galveston’s Rodney Seiler (7/1/10)

And, below right, just for fun, a zine trip to YesterQueer

Galveston -- On the Isle of Paradise,
Invisible Landmarks
a Zine by Ian Gerson
2022
Click to Read