The Montrose Mining Company, one of Houston’s longest-running gay bars, has officially closed its doors. According to a social media post from the owner Charles Armstrong. The owner addressed “changing times” and said “the concept is gone” saying he plans to reopen it with something new. The bar opened in 1978 and was known for its cheap drinks, large patio, barrels of peanuts and male dancers on boxes. DJ’s regularly played retro dance and disco music.
Armstrong says he will be working with architects and designers to create a new concept at 805 Pacific Street that we’re really excited about in the upcoming 18 months. Meteor was another bar that recently closed down following Gay Pride in Houston which was also owned by Charles Armstrong.
It was just several months ago that Houston lost EJ’s which made the Montrose Mining Company Houston’s oldest gay bar. In January 1977 Uncle Charlie’s opened as a combination restaurant and bar where Montrose Mining was located which later billed itself as “Houston’s Newest Cruise Bar,” and it lasted just over a year. But before that….ads in gay publications in February 1975 showed the Pacific Street Station at that address. By late 1970 The Tattooed Lady was in that location.
While Montrose Mining has a history at its location you may also think it sounds familiar to Throckmorton Mining Company and the handful of similarly related names in Dallas where they also have a JR’s Bar. The Throckmorton Mining Company in Dallas also changed its name to TMC going for a younger crowd with free admission and gogo dancers on poles. The “bear” crowd in Dallas that once frequented the TMC in Dallas now heads over to the Eagle and The Hidden Door. Both JR’s Bar establishments have remodeled and reached out for a more millennial crowd as the club and bar scene on both strips are ever-changing.
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