Where is this saloon token from?

[bucknut38]

View attachment 833620

 

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[bucknut38]

 

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[bucknut38]

This is 1909 buisness directory of Van Wert and list him as owning pool room.What is intesting is that there were no saloons or taverns listed, probobly because they were frowned upon.What is even more interesting is the name below John Adams is one i f the wealthiest persons ever in Van Wert and he made his $ in saloons.

 

[bucknut38]

I found that token 2 blocks north of that main st address

 

[JOHUNT]

Ya'll do seem to be getting closer. Do you think John Adams could've had a clandestine "speak-easy" during prohibition?

 

[idahotokens]

Johunt--probably not 'cause he died in 1919. Plus, putting his name and the word "saloon" on a token would be pretty stong evidence against him during Prohibition. Bucknut--interesting about the no saloons listed in 1909. Here, anyway, about then the state law allowed for "local option" elections and some towns and/or counties went dry. Some then went back wet at the next election. Maybe that is what went on there. At any rate we know from what DCMatt found that there was an Oak Saloon in Van Wert. I finally got the article to load and it said that the Clyde C. Cook, proprietor of the Oak Saloon, skipped town in 1898 and a creditor took over the business. I can imagine that (if our theory is correct), Adams bought the business some time after this, and (if the town went dry), he might have converted the business to a pool hall. That happened quite often. So, are there any city directories earlier than the 1909 one? If not, it might be time to read the newspapers and/or visit the courthouse and see if they have records of Adams being issued a liquor license. Those records often have been discarded, though, but the fact that his license was approved might show up in the minutes of the County Commission. Unfortunately, those records are not always indexed and are usually handwritten and sometimes tough to read. Keep up the research!
John in the Great 208

 

[Bramblefind]

I pulled the Sanborn maps for the area of 135 E. Main in Van Wert. Here are 1901 1907 1914. You can see #137 is listed at a "Sal." in 1901 & 1907 and then listed as "Pool" in 1914.

Great research in this thread!

 

[cudamark]

It's interesting to see that #132 and 136 became theaters in that span also.