Peabody’s was in Inver Grove Heights – the former Schleif’s Little City, which then became Thumper’s South.  By now the building had an actual address:  7884 Courthouse Blvd.

The building had been there since at least 1935.  The 20,000 sq. ft. dance floor was made of maple and had a capacity of 1,749.

Peabody’s opened on November 16 and 17, 1979, with performances by Heartsfield.  Richard “Eli” Ball was to book the bands.

Randall Quade says that:

It went on–due to the popularity of the ‘Urban Cowboy’ movie–to become a huge country and western bar called “Peabody’s Saloon and Music Hall.” I used to play there in the mid-’80s with a band called Saddletramp. The bar featured a huge dance floor and booked national, regional, and local acts.

The bar also had a mechanical bull, called El Toro, which cost $2 a try to stay on, just like “Urban Cowboy.”

 

Some of the acts people remember seeing at Peabodys are:

• Asleep at the Wheel
• Steve Goodman  (cancelled?)
• Rory Gallagher
• Ozark Mountain Daredevils
• Leon Russell – December 16, 1979 – Cancelled
• Outlaws
• Molly Hatchet

 

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DOWN IN FLAMES

Peabody’s burned to the ground in the early morning of February 13, 1984.  The fire was believed to have started in a liquor storage area.  50 firefighters arrived at about 7:30 am, and most were gone by 3 pm.

Incredibly, there was not a fire hydrant within a mile of the bar, requiring water tanker trucks to be brought in from Inver Grove Heights, Mendota Heights, Eagan, Rosemount, and Hastings.

Inver Grove Heights Fire Chief Dale Beckmann:

It took us about 45 minutes to get a good water shuttle going with the trucks coming back and forth. I think if we’d had a hydrant around here, we may have been able to save the west end of the building. The place was built just like an old-fashioned barn, big open ceilings, big wood joists. And that’s why she really took off. When we got here, the flames were jumping about 100 feet in the air. Really a sight. The heat within the building must have been just tremendous because the fire had so much room, so much space. In a few days we’ll have a good idea of how It happened.

(Minneapolis Star and Tribune, February 14, 1984)

The Manager of Peabody’s was Dennis “Denny” Sazenski, and the owner, Tom Davis, was out of town.

Harry on Facebook remembered, “When it burned down, the only thing you could see left was the burnt-up bull.”

Randall Quade reported that “No remnants of the bar exist and the site is covered with a new commercial development.”