It was one of the first saloons to cater to African-Americans. Black and Tan clubs were nightclubs in the United States in the early 20th century catering to the black and mixed-race ("tan") population. They flourished in the speakeasy era and were often popular places of entertainment linked to the early jazz years. With time the definition simply came to mean black and white clientele.
The owner, Frank Stephenson, is also credited for opening the city's first and oldest "undisguised" gay bar, The Slide, also on Bleecker Street.
Four bartenders served drinks over a long counter, and behind each was a long dirk and bludgeon which often used against unruly customers. In the hours before closing, much like other resorts of the era, were "enlivened with the cancan and licentious displays".
Stephenson was described by Herbert Asbury in The Gangs of New York (1928) as "a tall, slim man with a curiously bloodless face. Contemporary writers marked his resemblance to a corpse; his face was almost as white as snow and his cheeks were sunken, while his eyebrows and hair were black as ink. His eyes were deep set, and very keen and piercing. It was his custom to sit bolt upright in a high chair in the center of his resort, and remain there for hours without displaying any other sign of life than the baleful glitter of his eyes."
The resort was closed, along with many others, by then newly elected reform Mayor Abram S. Hewitt who campaigned against the city's vice and red light districts.
