Photos: The last days of the Legal Tender bar in downtown Tucson
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Rick Wiley
Photo editor
The Legal Tender on West Congress St. in downtown Tucson was the home of a stiff drink and a fight or two from the 1880s until it was demolished during "urban renewal" in 1969, which brought the Tucson Convention Center, Arizona Hotel and the Pima County Administration and Courts buildings.
Photos © Arizona Daily Star or Tucson Citizen, where applicable
The Legal Tender on July 12, 1968. This building, originally located on the south side of Congress, is now Veinte de Agusto Park. Besides the long bar, the Legal Tender also had tables and booths, remembers Jacobs. "In the 1940s, a cafe operated there but it did not do too well. That area was made into a dance floor."
The Legal Tender Saloon, 94 W. Congress St., 1902, began around 1875 as a two-story brick home of banker William C. Davis. Soon after, the original Legal Tender went in a few doors down. Around the turn of the century, the Davis home was remodeled for commercial use, and the Legal Tender moved in for good at 80 W. Congress St.
The Legal Tender Bar circa 1900. Then around the turn of the century, the Davis home was remodeled for commercial use, and the Legal Tender moved in for good at 80 W. Congress St. Rooms were let on the second floor to women described as "happy girls," wrote Bonnie Henry.
Edward C. Jacobs, fourth from left in dark suit, outside The Legal Tender, 94 W. Congress St., during a 1940s Rodeo Parade. Budweiser's Clydesdales were a highlight of the parade downtown along Congress Street.
Eduardo Jacobs, left, and son Eddie Jacobs, second from left with others at the Legal Tender Bar, circa 1955. For a time, Eduardo Jacobs also owned the Roskruge Hotel, as well as the Rialto Theatre, which his son, Eddie, later turned into a Spanish-language-movie theater.
The Legal Tender Bar during the early 1960's. So what kind of folks wanted to live above a bar? "People who liked to drink," says Bella Bowerman, Eduardo Jacobs' daughter and sister to Eddie.
Relics on the wall of the Legal Tender Bar on West Congress in 1969, including a George Wallace for President license plate, a photo of Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Newman and dozens of Arizona license plates.
Bartender Eddie Rodriguez pours a drink for "Chief" Lemleo, a regular patron for 20 years, on the last day of the Legal Tender Bar in on West Congress in Tucson on Oct. 10, 1969. "About 70 percent of the people were Mexican or Indian," according to Eddie Jacobs.
Spurs, chaps, rifles and other memorabilia on the wall of The Legal Tender Bar in Tucson on Oct. 10, 1969. "Not long after, the wrecking ball had its way, pounding down yet another landmark in Tucson's once-thriving barrio," wrote Bonnie Henry.
Bonnie Henry wrote: "By its final "last call," more than 100 "happy mourners," including the mayor, a bank vice president and several city honchos, had drained the taps" at the Legal Tender bar in Tucson on Oct. 10, 1969.
Legal Tender owner Eddie Jacobs, center, with bartender Eddie Rodriguez, holding a guitar made of a toilet seat and bailing wire during the bar's last day on Oct. 10, 1969.
The Legal Tender Bar during demolition for urban renewal in Downtown Tucson in 1969. A few months before the saloon's demise, Eduardo Jacobs, surveying the happy crowd inside the Legal Tender, remarked to a Star reporter, "A year from now they'll be dancing to the same tune - only at another place."
The Legal Tender on West Congress before demolition in July, 1969. Workers also tore up old trolley tracks in the street. Bonnie Henry wrote, "Though his bar was leased out to others in the 1960s, Eduardo Jacobs passionately fought what he saw as its coming destruction."
Siblings Bella Bowerma , left, Eddie Jacobs and Gloria Samorano in 2008, sitting in front of a painting and some old photographs that once hung on the wall of their father's bar, the Legal Tender. The bar was demolished in 1969 during urban renewal.
The Legal Tender Bar during demolition for urban renewal in Downtown Tucson in 1969. A few months before the saloon’s demise, Eduardo Jacobs, surveying the happy crowd inside the Legal Tender, remarked to a Star reporter, “A year from now they’ll be dancing to the same tune — only at another place.”
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
As featured on
Originally published on Oct. 16, 2008.
Borderlands Theater outdoor play retells the lives in the old barrio.
