LGBTQ+ · Seattle
Remembering Seattle’s Double Header, a Pioneer Square LGBTQ Landmark
For more than eight decades, The Double Header helped make space for LGBTQ people in Seattle’s Pioneer Square before closing in 2015.
By KLGBT News Desk ·
At 407 2nd Avenue S in Seattle’s Pioneer Square, The Double Header stood as a long-running gathering place for LGBTQ people until its closure in December 2015. The bar opened in 1934 and was widely regarded as possibly the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the United States.
Its history reached back even further through The Casino, a gay dance club that operated in the building’s basement from the 1930s through the 1950s. The Casino drew drag queens and helped establish an LGBTQ-friendly presence at the address. Over time, that atmosphere extended upstairs, and The Double Header gradually became a gay bar.
The venue’s history was notable not only for its longevity but also for the people it welcomed. Gay men and lesbians both frequented the bar, a form of shared LGBTQ social space that was unusual for its era. The establishment offered a place for community at a time when many LGBTQ gathering spots faced social hostility and exclusion.
Joseph Bellotti Sr. founded The Double Header after replacing a merchant marine bar that had occupied the location. His son, Joseph Bellotti Jr., assumed ownership sometime in the 1960s. The Casino’s later history took a different turn: during the 1950s, the basement club was converted into a diner.
Bellotti Jr. eventually retired, bringing The Double Header’s run to an end in December 2015. The building was sold in March 2016 for $4.2 million, with the Seattle real estate group Ewing & Clark handling the sale. The transaction marked a significant change for a Pioneer Square address that had been associated with LGBTQ nightlife for generations.
The Double Header’s legacy rests in both its age and its role as a shared community institution. Its story connects several eras of Seattle nightlife: the basement dance floor of The Casino, the bar’s evolution into an LGBTQ venue, and the long stewardship of the Bellotti family. Although the doors are closed, the site remains part of Seattle’s LGBTQ history and of the broader story of how queer communities created durable places to gather.
Source and reuse information This backgrounder adapts factual material from “The Double Header” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Double_Header The adapted text is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-SA 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. This story has not been independently reviewed or fact-checked.
Further links listed by the Wikipedia page (not independently checked): - https://web.archive.org/web/20161008151319/http://jetspacemagazine.com/last-inning-for-the-double-header/ - https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=The_Double_Header¶ms=47.60114_N_122.3322932_W_type:landmark - https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/seattles-gay-history-hiding-plain-sight-pioneer-square/QDEZT2352JERBOZ5QL7AS64U2M/ - https://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44525121.pdf - https://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44517778.pdf - https://www.minneapolisfed.org/about-us/monetary-policy/inflation-calculator/consumer-price-index-1800- Image rights Original illustrative artwork created from story keywords. It is illustrative, not a documentary photograph.