Photo from patricksullivans.com
Many of Knoxville’s bars claim to have an illustrious history. In a state with some of the most puritanical liquor laws in the nation, a sense of culture and tradition can make vice seem more dignified. And while many local pubs have stories that check out in the history books, few can compete with the history of Patrick Sullivan's.
Built in 1888 by an Irish immigrant, Patrick Sullivan’s Saloon bears the name of it’s founder to this day. The location was chosen based on proximity to the railroads. In the late 19th century, Knoxville was a growing railroad hub, and Mr. Sullivan recognized that the rail workers would look for entertainment as they passed through. Located in the heart of “The Bowery” as it was known, Patrick Sullivan’s soon catered to a less than reputable crowd.
The city’s criminal element thrived in The Bowery, and Patrick Sullivan’s was in the middle of it all. The third floor of the saloon, now one open room, was split into four separate “living quarters” that most historians believe operated as a brothel. The women who made their living in these rooms are memorialized in the modern Patrick Sullivan’s; each window of the third floor is painted with a doll-like turn-of-the-century prostitute.
The most famous guest of Patrick Sullivan’s third floor was an outlaw by the name of Kid Curry. A member of Butch Cassidy’s Hole in the Wall Gang, Curry had recently moved to Knoxville and adopted the name William Wilson, looking to lay low after a successful train robbery in Montana. He kept out of sight until one night, while drinking apricot brandy at Ike Jones’s Pool Hall just a few hundred feet from Patrick Sullivan’s, he became involved in a barroom brawl. Police soon arrived and Kid Curry shot two deputies, Patrolmen William Dinwiddie and Robert Saylor (the gunfight did not happen at Patrick Sullivan‘s, as some would have you believe). This incident led to his eventual arrest and incarceration in Knoxville, where he became a local celebrity, receiving over 5000 visitors in prison. He escaped from prison in June of 1903, more than 18 months after his arrest, and rode Knoxville Sheriff James W. Fox’s horse to freedom.
A few years before Kid Curry’s violent stay in Knoxville, Buffalo Bill, in town to perform his famous “Wild West Show”, came to Patrick Sullivan’s. And unlike Kid Curry, Buffalo Bill actually fired his weapon inside the saloon. After a local patron offended the Indians touring with Buffalo Bill, a fight broke out and quickly escalated to include more members of the touring troupe, along with more locals coming to the defense of their fellow Knoxvillian. The brawl continued until Buffalo Bill fired his six-shooter into the ceiling and walls. Regulars of Patrick Sullivan’s today will claim that certain holes and marks were left by Buffalo Bill’s pistol.
Patrick Sullivan’s was shut down by local prohibition laws in 1907. The building was used as an ice cream shop, a restaurant named Mike’s Place, and an upholstery shop before finally being reopened as the modern incarnation of Patrick Sullivan’s Steakhouse and Saloon in 1986.
For more information: Patrick Sullivan's is located at 100 Central Avenue, on the corner of Central and Jackson. Patrick Sullivan's can be contacted at 637-4255.
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