The lastest issue of Baltimore Magazine (December 2009) highlights the 25 best bars in the area. Included is The Owl Bar located inside the Belvedere Hotel in Mt. Vernon. The magazine doesn't go too in depth with the bar's history of about 100 years, but they do explain something about the bar when it was operating as a speakeasy. The bar had an owl "whose eyes would flash during Prohibition to alert drinkers of a police raid."
Upon further investigation, I went to their website and read about their history. As the story goes,
The Owl Bar became a hugely popular stop for travelers, especially those going by train from New York to Miami. They would stop in Baltimore, spend a few days at the Belvedere, and visit the Wise Old Owl. The key was knowing exactly when the illegal products and services were available and how to behave to avoid getting caught. That's where the wisdom of the owl came to the rescue and quenched the thirst. He imparted an encoded message that was clear to all of the in-the-know regulars. "The wise old owl sat on an oak, the more he saw, the less he spoke the less he spoke, the more he heard."
For more on travelers and the Belvedere Hotel during the 20's, see my post from December 3, 2009
"Baltimore's Best Bars," Baltimore Magazine, vol. 102, no. 12,(December 2009): 158.
"History,' The Owl Bar, http://www.theowlbar.com/index2.php#/info3/2/ (accessed December 12, 2009).
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