Big House Nite Club
I saw ads for this place from December 1932 to 1937, and just loved them! Who would start a bar before Prohibition was over? An optimist, I guess. And name it the Big House? (Did the waiters wear stripes?) The answer is a guy named Frank Potvin, whose name was associated with a big moonshine seizure in 1920 but got a liquor license anyway.
The address was 1329 So. 3rd Street, which, as far as I can make out, is where 35W meets Washington Ave. Maybe he had a big house.
![](https://twincitiesmusichighlights.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BigHouseMinneapolis_Star_Fri__May_19__1933_.jpg)
Minneapolis Star, May 19, 1933
![](https://twincitiesmusichighlights.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BigHouseMinneapolis_Star_Fri__Sep_1__1933_.jpg)
Minneapolis Star, September 1, 1933