How do you get into The Speakeasy?
We have not confirmed it. The Speakeasy is in the directory because it calls itself a speakeasy, and that is the whole of what we can stand behind about its door.
Drinks of the era
We have not seen this venue’s own list, so what follows is the period rather than the bar: Adonis, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
Where The Speakeasy sits
The Speakeasy is in Granite City, Illinois, in Madison County, in the Midwest of the United States.
This is currently the only verified hidden bar our directory lists in Granite City. If you know another, tell us.
Illinois holds 71 listed venues in this directory. See them all on our Illinois speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in Illinois
Illinois came under national prohibition on 17 January 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment took effect and the Volstead Act defined an intoxicating beverage as anything above one half of one per cent alcohol — a threshold strict enough to close breweries that had expected to survive.
More on the period in our history of Prohibition in Illinois.
What the newspapers recorded in Illinois
Searching the Library of Congress run of Illinois newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from Illinois:
- The Rock Island Argus and daily union, April 27, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The Chicago whip, May 29, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer, November 26, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The Rock Island Argus and daily union, December 9, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
You can reach The Speakeasy by phone on (618) 709-7218 and on Facebook.
The address is 1318 Niedringhaus Ave, Granite City, IL 62040. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For The Speakeasy we hold street address, telephone number, and social accounts. We do not yet hold official website, opening hours, a published drinks list, an online booking link, or a listed-building record.
It is in the directory because its own name calls it a speakeasy and the map tags on the record mark it a cocktail bar.
Overture Maps carries this venue; OpenStreetMap has no matching record.
The source data classifies the premises as a bar.