The Rail Inn Tavern was located at 2747 Central Ave. NE in Minneapolis.

This building was built in 1922 as an 18 x 22 frame shop.  It was listed as a cafe and then a tavern in 1935.

The first hit on the Star Tribune archive was on May 23, 1949, when “Yeggs” (an old school term for burglars) broke in, stole their safe, and carted it away in a kid’s stolen coaster wagon. Police were looking for Yeggs with big muscles.   The proprietor was named as Gordon Hewitt.

Hewitt himself was accosted in August 1949, but all the robbers got was $5 out of this wallet.

Thieves broke in again in November 1956, but all they got was $25.

Sherwin Linton posted this fabulous picture of himself here in 1958. He says, “Those boots were turquoise with black flame trim!”

Photo courtesy Sherwin Linton

On January 5, 1959, the bar belonged to Don Bumgardner, who was planning to take the night off to go bowling.  As he was shaving in the back room, two customers became robbers, and got away with a considerable amount of money, most of it the personal property of Bumgarnder.  The stickup men turned out to be brothers Don and Richard Foley, who were on a crime spree, but were caught on January 5 after another robbery when their car wouldn’t start.

All licenses belonged to Mrs. Irene Hanson, including the 3.2. onsale beer license, which was revoked on September 26, 1962, when Mrs. Hanson pleaded guilty to selling beer to a minor.  She had been fined $75, and broke into tears when told that revocation of her license was automatic in this instance.  (Minneapolis Tribune, September 27, 1962)

The Rail Inn appears in the Minneapolis Tribune archives on October 2, 1965, when a bartender was jailed for “alleged illegal sale of beer.”  A ten-day suspension of the license was also recommended.

The Rail Inn was in trouble in 1969 when a waitress pleaded guilty to serving whiskey on March 30. The last notice in the paper was “City May Suspend License,” on May 22, 1969.  Apparently the bar went out of business after that.

The property is now the parking lot of the Minneapolis Central Corps Salvation Army.