Venue Information
John Clifford Bell was born in Cincinnati on February 3, 1886. With only a fourth grade education, he moved to Detroit in his early teens. At 16 years old, his father, a socialist labor agitator and Irish saloon keeper, put Cliff to work as a porter at his pub on John R and so began Cliff Bell’s legacy of providing entertainment to the city of Detroit.
When Prohibition began in 1919 many of Detroit’s watering holes closed leaving young Cliff Bell out of work and bitter about what he saw as “an unwarranted infringement on the personal privileges of red blooded Americans. “It wasn’t long before Bell was back in action, opening one “speakeasy” after another during the 14 years of Prohibition.
In 1922, he began operating in the defunct Grand Circus Chop House behind the Detroit Athletic Club. Better known as the DAC Annex, members could sneak out of the dry club for a quick drink, but the Annex drew too much attention ...
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