Mona's 440 Club

Mona's 440 Club opened in 1936 at 440 Broadway in San Francisco's North Beach and is widely regarded as the city's first lesbian bar, and most likely the first in the country. Named for Mona Sargent, it became a bohemian hangout known for female servers in tuxedos and entertainment by male impersonators. During an era of heavy legal repression and police harassment of gay life, it offered a rare public space where lesbians could gather openly. It kept drawing a lesbian crowd into the 1950s and helped set the stage for the lesbian bar culture that spread through American cities later in the century.