ABC

[The] ABC Restaurant, S.W. Washington. between 12th and 13th, now Rosenbaum Plaza, formerly 442 Washington (old number), 1912. Photo LEFT below: The Palace Hotel, ca 1912, site of the ABC Restaurant, owned by two defendants in the 1912 Vice Clique Scandal.

This site will also be home to Ax Handle, Tipper Topper, Washington Hotel.

Years: around 1910 - 1912 Right 2023 photo.

Notice in the photo above LEFT, below the PALACE HOTEL sign is a sign that reads “BUFFET”. Per JD Chandler and Theresa Griffin Kennedy in their book Murder and Scandal in Prohibition Portland, writes on page 22, …many others like him, were forced to live a double life, and an underground gay culture developed. The Imperial Hotel on Southwest Twelfth was the center of the secret gay culture downtown, with the basement men’s room often used for sexual liaisons. Around the hotel, a small colony of gay-owned businesses grew. The ABC Restaurant owned by Claude Bronner, and E.S.J. McALlister’s Smart Shop Millinery Store were among the businesses that catered to a gay clientele Using secret code words and clothing signals, the business owners and their customers kept their gay identity a closely guarded secret.  

In George Painter’s book The Vice Clique: Portland’s Great Sex Scandal, page 49 he writes, “The third (The Portland News) EXTRA! Finally named names. Although the News earlier claimed “more than 50” were in custody, it did not explain why only 13 were in jail…Burt T. Thornton, 38 co-owner of the ABC restaurant, Claude D. Bronner, 42 co-owner of the ABC restaurant…on page 155, The penitentiary received its first Vice Cique Scandal inmate with the guilty pleas of Cluade Bronner, co-owner of the ABC Restaurant downtown. He pleaded guilty at the recommendation of his attorney. On page 156 After his arrest, creditors closed the restaurant, showing the financial devastation he faced owning to his arrest. On page 199, He was the co-owner of the ABC Restaurant in downtown Portland. Bronner apparently did not seek much publicity for the restaurant. It is not listed in either the 1910 telephone directory or the city directories business listings during this year and did not advertise, as many other downtown-area restaurants, in the publication of Lincoln High School. It also never sought a liquor license. Should be noted that the home that he and Nathan Healy shared during the Vice Clique Scandal remains in the 1700 block of S.W. Taylor Street.

PER GLAPN website: Although we have no definite evidence that this was particular hangout for Portland’s gay men of the day, it would seem quite likely that at least some of the vice scandal defendants and their friends would have frequented this establishment.  There is no record of the ABC ever applying for a liquor license, and it apparently never advertised in the local press or city directories.  Washington Street at that time was an interesting conglomeration of small hotels, art galleries, and curio shops, the type of street that might attract the theatrical and artistic crowd

Per the GLAPN - A Walking Tour of Downtown Portland: A Century of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Historic Sites June 1999: The ABC restaurant, Washington St. Bet 12th and 13th, now Rosenbaum Plaza, formerly 442 Washington old number). The delicatessen of Claude Bronner and Burt Thornton was once located in this building on Washington St (1912). Although we have no definite evidence that this was a particular hangout for Portland’s queer men of the day, it would seem quite likely that at least some of the vice scandal defendants and their friends would have frequented this establishment. Washington street at that time was an interesting conglomeration of small hotels, art galleries and curio shops, the type of street that might attract the theatrical and artistic crowd.

In J D Chandle’s book Hidden History of Portland, Oregon he states, “By 1910, a complex gay community existed in the area, with gay-owned businesses such as ABC restaurant owned by Claude Bronner.”

Not much more is known, more research is needed.