Alla Bar
The Club Alla Bar was located in White Bear Lake.
It was run by Alfred J. LaBarre, and was extant by at least April 1941. I thought I’d be clever and look for Al in Ancestry.com, but honest to goodness, there are two Alfred J. LaBarres from St. Paul, one born in 1899 and one born in 1900. Dang!
Minneapolis Star, June 6, 1942
The directions in the ad below are complicated: two miles east of Hoffmann’s Corners on County Road E and East County Line, or two miles north of North St. Paul on East County Line.
White Bear Press, June 29, 1945, courtesy White Bear Lake Historical Society
We learn more from the folks on Facebook:
- “There used to be a dirt road loop probably less than a quarter mile north from the intersection of East County Line and County Road E. My dad told me when I was a kid that this was Alla Bar Lane.”
- “I remember the shopping center at 244/County Road E and East County Line Road.” Indeed there was an Alla-Bar Shopping Center in 1962 and 1963; in 1962 it included Wayne’s Department Store.
- “East County Line is the same as 120. Hoffman’s Corners is still on the corner of Highway 61 and County Road E.”
- “Soft wooden dance floor which bowed with too much weight on it. Illegal speakeasy. Washington County Sheriff chased LaBarre when he was smuggling in kegs; LaBarre had a huge engine in his truck and left him in the dust.”