WINONA SALOONS

In the early days, there was a neighborhood near Winona, just north of the city limits, known as Adairtown. Just past the present day ambulance shed, hardware and feed store on north 19 at Winona, where a county road, unpaved, intersects with highway 19, stood a building known as the Bucket of Blood (known locally as the Bloody Bucket) Saloon and Dance Hall. It was owned and operated by Floyd Weaver and another man, in partnership. Floyd and his family, wife Eleanor, sons Bob and Clark, and daughter Dana Beth all played music at the dance hall. The only ‘excitement’ that ever happened there that anyone can remember is that some man got electrocuted there while working on an electrical generator. One informant noted that when she was about 13 years old she had her first taste of a Dr. Pepper soft drink at this tavern. That would have been about 1942. She said she had been visiting family at Ink and they were on their way back home to Rocky and stopped in at the tavern, as it was run by family members.

Later, after this tavern closed down, some people by the name of Lilly built another saloon and called it the Bloody Bucket, but it was located in the city limits of Winona on the north end of town on what is now Hoover Street which runs on the back side of town to Lewis Lake. Dick Lindsey was a bartender there. It was at this location that dogs brought in the bones of Fitz Lindsey, who was murdered by a person or persons unknown and his body dumped in the woods. His murder remains unsolved. His death occurred sometime in June of 1959.

Another saloon-dance hall type business operated in Winona in the former home and auction house of the late John & Esther Barkley. It is situated just south of the ball park between the two branches of the creek. Cleve Bockman had a tavern and dance hall, and at one time his parents had a grocery store there. It was rumored that a rival business owner had the tavern burned down to cut down on the competition.

Doc Perkins owned a tavern, liquor store and dance hall on old highway 60 just southwest of the old depot in Winona, known at The Gables. It was located across the highway from Arch Gardner’s garage and some rental cabins. Hampton’s garage was located next door. The business was formerly owned and operated by the Lloyd Family, and the original building burned down and Doc Perkins built and operated the business after that.

There is said to have been a tavern on Front Street in Winona that was also known as the Bloody Bucket, or possibly the Bucket of Blood, Saloon, and Doc Rollins was affiliated with it in some way. There was a story that he used to have a 'few too many' and shoot off a gun through the ceiling. This would have been sometime in the 1920s or 1930s, maybe even the 1940s. Doc was born in 1898 and would have been at least in his 20s.There are tales of wild shootings and fights and all kinds of shenanigans about that saloon.

One story connected to the second Bloody Bucket Saloon, owned by the Lilly family, is that after closing that business they moved to the Fort Leonard Wood area and opened a tavern there. In recent years during construction or demolition of the building where they once operated their tavern, several skeletons of murdered Army soldiers from the nearby Fort were discovered in a crawlspace underneath the floorboards.

Another business that was important at the time was the Lewis Hotel, operated by Jinks and Mildred Davis about 1948. It was located across the street from Cleve Bockman’s establishment. On an opposite corner Lewis and Nellie Craig operated a restaurant in a building across from the John Barkley building. In the Lewis Hotel, Jinks Davis had a restaurant on the ground floor, and Mildred had her beauty shop there. The sleeping rooms were upstairs. Jinks was in the process of putting in a liquor store, and had just stocked up with supplies, when the place burned to the ground. Everyone just barely escaped with their lives, including the two liquor salesmen who had stocked up the merchandise. A guest of the hotel who had just checked out was rumored to have been in the employ of the fellow liquor store owner in town who it was believed hired the job done to eliminate the competition. It was the commonly held belief for many years that nobody else could open a liquor store in Winona because they would be burned out.

Some murders that happened in Winona that were connected to Big John's Tavern, which was located on old highway 60 at the junction of highway 19 south, on the west side of town, were when Big John himself killed Harley Adair. Big John was also believed to have poisoned Guy Parks and maybe Guy's brother, as well. Later on a man shot and killed Big John. A man named Tom Deacon killed Fat Arthur and out of remorse took his own life shortly after.

Disclaimer: Information above was gleaned from various conversations with local residents over the course of several years and has not been officially verified. It should be considered as folklore and not fact.