The Liberty Bar was located at 9 Ninth Ave. So. in Hopkins.

This lovely 3.2 bar was brought to my attention by Jim Klobuchar, in a paragraph he wrote in a story he published about the Bull Pen, down the street.  It was irresistibly hilarious, and I had to look it up in the Strib archives.

Turns out there wasn’t much to find, except a string of men losing their liquor licenses for serving beer to minors.  I’ll write down what I found, but it’s not too interesting.

In July 1953, Valentine C. Skoog sold the place to Percy Villa, who was the former boxing coach at Blake School.  Villa’s real name was Bennie Percansky, and he was the brother of Abe and Raye Percansky, owners of the Flame Cafe at 16th and Nicollet.

In December 1961, Richard J. Strachota, a co-owner of the Bull Pen, had the license and got in trouble for selling beer to a minor.

In the Fall of 1962 the bar was operated by Harry C. Buechner.  In May 1963 the City Council closed him down and charged him $100 for.. selling beer to a minor.

In November 1963 the the license was awarded to LeRoy R. Jensen, who was purchasing the property.  At the time the bar was closed for 20 days, because Buechner had just committed his second offense of (let’s all say it together) selling beer to a minor.

THE SNAKE PIT

Okay, here’s the good part.  I can’t improve on it, so I’ll just repeat it verbatim.  This is Jim Klobuchar, Minneapolis Star, June 19, 1967:

For the tourist, no place in town is more enchanting than the Liberty Bar, styled the Snake Pit by casual passerby.  The real insiders, however, refer to it as Reptile Gardens.

This is a delightful 3.2 bar where, on an off-night, I encountered only three fist fights, and one small threatened riot.  For decor, the place achieves the subtly right counterpoint from the matched ribbons of flypaper danging from the ceiling on either side of the cash register.

The two-piece western band was largely ignored in favor of the more imaginative entertainment at the bar.  “The joint owes me $5 for winning on the Twins in the pool,” a drunk was screaming at the bartender.

“Pipe down or I’ll call a cop,” the bartender snorts.

“Go to hell,” the customer replies fondly.  “I never hit a man who has to wear a gun.”

And that’s it for the Liberty Bar, except to say that it was for sale in June 1974.  Wish I had some photos!  Maybe when the Hopkins Historical Society opens up again….