Lindberg's Tavern

Venue info

On July 21, 1865, Springfield helped give birth to the Wild West era when the town square was the site of the Wild Bill Hickok-Davis Tutt “quick draw” shootout. Two small brass plaques inlaid into the pavement on Park Central square mark the locations of both Hickok and Tutt during the famous shootout. Our young country was still a little wild around the eyes when this stored watering hole was born. The building that stands at 318 W. Commercial, on the Southeast corner of Commercial and Campbell, is steeped in legend and has spawned many tales that are woven into the fabric of Springfield’s collective conscious. It has featured some of the best entertainment to pass through town, received special notice from Anheuser-Busch for the sheer volume of beer that was served from behind its legendary bar and has had as much money in its safe as a local bank. At various times it has been called “The Commercial Bar,” “C.H. Mills Billiards” (during prohibition), “Liquor and Billiards” (after prohibition), “The Commercial Beverage Company,” “The Joint” and “The Corner Tap Room.” Daisy Cocktail, Manhattan, Old Fashioned representative of the time, these early cocktails were certainly common libations in the economic boom to come, and are still served here today. 1870- The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, Springfield’s first railroad, laid its tracks a mile north of “old” Springfield into the “new” town of North Springfield. A commercial district sprang up around the railroad depot and the street was thus named “Commercial. “ 1880-The building that is now Lindbergs, according to city records, was listed as a house of Ill repute during this time. Martha Wallace and Belle Wilson were the madams of the brothel. They had 7 “tenants” that were referred to by in the census at the time as “inmates.”