4736-38 West Vernor Highway
Nolan’s Bar, Osoria Enterprises
Though online records show that this structure was built in 1895, it isn’t present on the 1897 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. By the 1921 edition, it was, standing two stories with 24 feet of frontage on Dix Avenue, the former name of Vernor Highway.
Very little information about this structure is available online; however, we know that the main floor was a store, and the second level was likely at least one, but maybe more, flats.
By 1957, the main floor was home to Nolan’s Bar. At that time, the establishment was hiring barmaids. The ad specified that the women had to be between 25 and 30 and weren’t allowed to drink. Today, it’s hard to imagine putting that in a for-hire advertisement. Similar ads were in the paper from 1957 through 1968, so the bar lasted at least that long.
The ads returned in 1980 with a few tweaks. Now, the unnamed bar was hiring a barmaid or bartender between the ages of 21 and 35, and references were required to apply. In 1984, the bar (with a liquor license) was for sale. That year is the last time I’ve found the bar or address mentioned online.
By the mid-2000s, the structure was in rough shape. It appears to have last been used by Osoria Enterprises, a tax service for Spanish-speaking customers. On Google Street View, you can see an old, tattered bar sign that might read El Padrino Bar, but I can’t be certain. The sign is long gone today.
Though a plurality of structures on Vernor Highway are activated and in use by community members, bringing new life to ones like this is essential to ensuring the viability of the neighborhood as time goes on.
It is unclear if the fire next door at Taqueria El Rey damaged this structure. I may be alone in this, but I love the paint job. Currently, there’s a piece by Nick Jaskey on the facade.
If you know more about this or adjacent properties, contact me or reach out to the Detroit Historic Designation Advisory Board’s Detroit LatinX History Project.
