Many longtime customers described the transition as taking place gradually, with mixed crowds slowly changing to predominantly gay customers as the evening progressed. the Mine Hill Tavern began catering to Northern New Jersey’s gay and lesbian population. However, by the time Frank and Madeline “Maddie” Bellini purchased the property in the 1960s, mining had shifted from New Jersey’s rich magnetite deposits toward the easier and cheaper-to-harvest fields in Minnesota, Michigan, and the Midwest.īy 1967. When automobiles replaced stage coach travel in the early 1900s, the Mine Hill Tavern continued serving the town’s iron miners and blue collar workers under several generations of owners. The bar also served the teamsters who drove the carriages, with local residents occupying any remaining bar stools. During the late 19 th century, running water and electricity were luxuries enjoyed exclusively by Gilded Age estates in Morristown. Since the Mine Hill Tavern’s original guests merely were passing through, rooms were very Spartan, containing only a bed, pot belly stove and wash basin, with an outhouse out back. A 1905 postcard depicting miners near the entrance to the Taylor Mine in Mount Hope, NJ when Morris County produced a large portion of the region’s iron ore. A tavern serving drinks and basic fare occupied the first floor, while owners and managers lived in the third story apartment.
The tavern riginally was built as a stage coach stop at the corner of West Randolph Avenue, with the second floor “porch” receiving passengers and their luggage to the adjacent visitor accommodations. North Jersey History Genealogy Center – Mine Hill vertical file.Īt the same time the Gay Rights Movement was reaching a turning point across the Hudson River, a small bar in Morris County quietly was becoming the social nexus for generations of Northern New Jerseyans who otherwise would have few places to meet freely.ĭating to at least 1868, the Mine Hill Tavern had served countless travelers, workers, and locals, particularly the miners who lived near the Randolph Avenue establishment. June 28, 2019, marked the 50 anniversary of the Stonewall riots, in which a 1969 police raid at the Greenwich Village Tavern sparked six days of protests.ĭemonstrators denounced laws that barred gay and lesbian Americans from congregating in public places, and the police harassment that many experienced, and the organized crime syndicates that ran the few businesses willing to serve gay customers. Moy, North Jersey History and Genealogy Center