Most of Austin’s early queer bars are gone. What you can still visit: an archive that keeps their history, a new marker on Fourth Street, and a handful of addresses where queer Austin has gathered for decades. Some of those addresses still have a bar in them.
This guide is the map version of our Austin LGBTQ+ history timeline. Dates and addresses come from the Austin History Center’s own LGBTQ subject guide and the City of Austin, unless we say otherwise.
The Short List
| Where | Why go |
|---|---|
| Austin History Center | The city’s archive, with LGBTQ papers, newsletters, photos and a 1989 march video; no appointment needed |
| The Fourth and Colorado marker | Austin’s official LGBTQIA+ historical marker, dedicated August 2026 |
| Oilcan Harry’s and Rain on 4th | Bars on the same block since 1990 and 2004 |
| 404 Colorado | One address, a queer club in each decade since the 1990s |
| 900 Red River | Home of Chances, the “Coolest Lesbian Bar in Texas,” from 1982 to 1994 |
| 911 Congress | Where the Manhattan Club, possibly Austin’s first gay bar, opened in 1958 |
| BookWoman | The bookstore that grew out of the Austin Lesbian Organization, still open on North Lamar |
Start at the Archive
Austin History Center
The Austin History Center is the Austin Public Library’s archive for Austin and Travis County, in the Faulk Building at 800 Guadalupe St. Its LGBTQ subject guide, first compiled in 2012 and last updated in February 2022, lists what it holds. A few things you can ask for in the Reading Room:
- The Austin Lesbian/Gay Political Caucus Papers, 1978 to 2003: minutes, correspondence and clippings from the group
- Old community papers: Gay Austin (1976 to 1979), the Austin Lesbian Organization’s newsletter (1975), The Texas Triangle (1992 to 2001) and Fag Rag (1993 to 1997)
- A video of the 1989 March on Austin for Lesbian/Gay Rights, by the Austin Women’s Video Collaborative
- An oral history with Dennis Paddie about the gay liberation movement in Austin, recorded in 2012
- Austin American-Statesman photo negatives, including “Gay Liberation Group at Capitol” from June 1971 and “Gay Rally at Capitol” from May 1977
The guide also has a table of LGBTQ bars and clubs from 1958 on, with addresses, put together by volunteer archivist Nikki Lopez in 2019. Most of this page’s addresses come from it.
The Reading Room is on the second floor and open to anyone during regular hours, with no appointment. You sign in, put bags in a locker, and use pencils only (they provide them). Phones and laptops are fine on silent. If you want City records or photos that are in cold storage, give them two weeks’ notice.
- Where: Faulk Building, 800 Guadalupe St., Austin
- Hours, as posted: Wednesday to Saturday, noon to 5 pm. Closed Sunday to Tuesday
- Phone: 512-974-7480
- More: LGBTQ subject guide (PDF) and planning a visit
The guide says its queer collections have gaps, and it lists bars, businesses and groups it needs more on. If you have flyers, photos, newsletters or papers, the Center asks you not to drop them off. Call or use its contact form, and an archivist sets up a time. How donating works.
Is this your organization? Update this listing
Fourth Street
Fourth and Colorado Marker
On August 21, 2026, the City of Austin dedicated an official LGBTQIA+ historical marker at the southwest corner of Fourth Street and Colorado Street. The City says it honors “the people, places, and organizations that shaped Austin’s LGBTQIA+ history and culture.” Texas Public Radio described it as a small brick structure in Pride flag colors with a bronze plaque titled “As Queer As You Want To Be,” about the area’s 1980s nightlife.
The rainbow crosswalks at the same intersection are gone. KUT reported that City workers painted over them in July 2026 under a state transportation directive, and that LGBTQ+ banners now hang above the street.
- Where: Southwest corner of West 4th Street and Colorado Street, downtown
- More: The City’s announcement
Oilcan Harry’s and Rain on 4th
The History Center’s table dates Oilcan Harry’s at 211 West 4th Street to 1990 and calls it “Austin’s Oldest continually running Gay Bar.” The bar’s own site calls it “Austin’s Oldest LGBT Entertainment Venue.” Next door at 217 W. 4th, Rain on 4th has been open since 2004, by the same table.
A block west, at 304 W. 4th, the table lists The Hollywood, a lesbian bar from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s that billed itself as “Austin’s fiercest Womyn’s Dance Club.”
Both bars are open today. Hours and what’s on each night are in our guide to Austin’s gay bars.
404 Colorado
Near the marker, 404 Colorado St. has held a run of queer clubs. The History Center’s table lists Club 404, a 1990s after-hours dance bar, then Area 52 from 1995, known for its drag shows, then Kiss and Fly from 2009 to 2012. Highland Lounge has been there since 2014.
At 407 Colorado, the table lists The Boathouse in the early 1980s, “one of the first bars in the Warehouse District,” where Austin drag performers including Nicole and Sweet Savage performed.
Red River
900 Red River
From 1982 to 1994, 900 Red River St. was Chances, “Known as the ‘Coolest Lesbian Bar in Texas,'” according to the History Center’s table, which says it hosted many lesbian bands. Cheer Up Charlies moved into the same address in 2014 and is still there.
For where sapphic Austin goes now, see the lesbian bars guide in the list at the end of this page.
Congress Avenue
911 Congress
The City’s history timeline says the Manhattan Club, “possibly Austin’s 1st gay bar,” opened at 911 Congress Avenue in 1958, a couple of blocks south of the Capitol. Texas State University reported in 2021 that it was a small back-room bar in the Manhattan Deli, run by David and Florence Robbins, and that it operated until 1969. Two Texas State graduate students were preparing a state historical marker application. We couldn’t confirm that a marker went up.
The Capitol itself shows up in the History Center’s photo list: a gay liberation group there in June 1971 and a gay rights rally in May 1977.
Still Open From the Early Years
BookWoman
The City’s timeline says the Austin Lesbian Organization, founded in 1975, eventually led to the opening of BookWoman. BookWoman calls itself “the oldest, queerest, feminist-est bookstore in Texas,” and it has been open 50 years.
- Where: 5501 N Lamar Blvd, #A-105, Austin 78751
- Phone: 512-472-2785
- More: BookWoman
Is this your shop? Update this listing
Maps to Take With You
- “Ladies Loved and Lost: The History of Austin’s Lesbian Bars,” a 2023 exhibit by Fifi Toure for UT Dallas’s Queer South project, maps over 20 lesbian spaces downtown from the early 1960s to 2008. Read it at Queer South
- The Austin Chronicle’s 2019 story on Elizabeth Green’s map of about 250 queer places in Austin since the 1950s. Read the Chronicle story
- The History Center’s nightlife table, pages 27 to 33 of its LGBTQ subject guide
Before You Go
- Check the History Center’s days. It’s open four afternoons a week, Wednesday to Saturday
- Plan for time in the Reading Room. The Center’s own advice: archival research takes a while
- Most of these addresses are someone else’s building now. Look from the sidewalk; don’t walk into a business or a lobby to see where a bar used to be
- Fourth Street gets loud at night. The marker is on a public corner, so a daytime visit is quieter, and the bars open later
- Downtown parking is paid. The Faulk Building, the marker and 911 Congress are within about a mile of each other
More history and nightlife guides:
What We Couldn’t Check
- What stands at 911 Congress today, and whether a Manhattan Club marker exists
- The exact words on the Fourth Street plaque; we’ve only read news reports of it
- The History Center’s HistoryPin map of the bars, which its guide links to but which didn’t load for us
- Where Elizabeth Green’s 2019 map lives now; the Chronicle story doesn’t link it
Last checked: October 2026. The History Center’s pages and LGBTQ subject guide, the City of Austin, Oilcan Harry’s, Texas State University, KUT, Texas Public Radio and Queer South read on October 16, 2026. See how we choose what goes on a list, or use our contact page to send a correction.
How We Check
We check every business and group we name against what it publishes about itself: its own site, its booking page, or its state license. No business pays to be in a guide, and we don’t earn a commission when you book.
The full method is on How We Choose. If something here is wrong or out of date, send a correction.