Stag Saloon
The Stag Saloon, also called Rensford Brothers, was a bar operated at 225 20th Street North, on the southeast corner of 3rd Avenue North, on the site of the former B. F. Cheek drug store.
It was operated by Tom Rensford and his brother, Harry. Above the saloon was the private Olivette Club. In 1902 police chief C. W. Austin assigned officer W. E. Jordan to remain at the saloon and observe who came and went from the club upstairs. The Rensfords swore out a warrant for trespassing, but Jordan was found not guilty. An adjoining restaurant was operated by William Fidger.
Tom Bensford died in 1906. Harry Rensford was shot to death outside the saloon on December 28, 1912. The shooter, T. Jones Abbott, also died from gunfire. Accounts differed as to who shot first.
In addition to wine, rye whiskies, liquor, cigars and tobacco, the business offered a "merchant's lunch" on weekdays. The storefront "attracted considerable attention" one night in October 1918, with the installation of "a painted noble stag... illuminated by electricity, alternately in red, white and blue."
The building in which the saloon was operated was demolished in the 1920s for construction of the Porter Clothing Co. building.
References
- "Policeman Jordan Found Not Guilty" (September 26, 1902) The Birmingham Age-Herald
- "Receiver for Saloon" (July 6, 1906) The Montgomery Advertiser
- "No Need to Investigate Killing Saloon Man" (December 22, 1912) The Montgomery Advertiser
- The Birmingham News (October 29, 1918), p. 8