How do you get into The Rathskeller of The Seelbach?
We have not confirmed it. The Rathskeller of The Seelbach 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: French 75, Clover Club, and Aviation are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
The building
Documented — The Rathskeller of The Seelbach occupies the Seelbach Hotel, a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places under reference number 75000775. The listing is a federal record maintained by the National Park Service, and the nomination document is the primary source for the building’s architectural and social history.
National Register reference 75000775 · NPS nomination document
Where The Rathskeller of The Seelbach sits
The Rathskeller of The Seelbach is in Louisville, Kentucky, in Jefferson County, in the Deep South of the United States.
Our directory currently lists seven speakeasies and hidden bars in Louisville. The full list is on our guide to hidden bars in Louisville.
Measured from the map pins, the closest of those to The Rathskeller of The Seelbach are The Flamingo Lounge, about 650 m away, Hereafter Lou, about 700 m away, and The Highball Speakeasy Lounge & Retreat, about 2.4 km away.
Kentucky holds 20 listed venues in this directory. See them all on our Kentucky speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in Kentucky
Kentucky brought in its own statewide prohibition in 1920, the same year the Eighteenth Amendment came into force nationally on 17 January 1920. State and federal law arrived together here, and the Volstead Act defined an intoxicating beverage as anything above one half of one per cent alcohol.
More on the period in our history of Prohibition in Kentucky.
What the newspapers recorded in Kentucky
Searching the Library of Congress run of Kentucky newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from Kentucky:
- The public ledger, July 13, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The sun, February 3, 1921 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Mountain advocate, August 6, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The sun, July 7, 1921 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
You can reach The Rathskeller of The Seelbach by phone on (502) 585-3200 and through its own website.
What we have confirmed
For The Rathskeller of The Seelbach we hold telephone number, official website, and a listed-building record. We do not yet hold street address, social accounts, opening hours, a published drinks list, or an online booking link.
It is in the directory because the description in the source data describes it as a speakeasy.
Overture Maps carries this venue; OpenStreetMap has no matching record.
The source data classifies the premises as a bar.