The story
Civil War Colonel Philetus W. Norris put up the building in the early 1870s in a settlement then called Norris, Michigan. By 1874 it was a general store and post office, and the bar dates to 1876. Over the years it has been a stagecoach stop, a hotel, a jail and a brothel, and during Prohibition it ran as a speakeasy. The name is believed to come from the original layout, which let people in from both the front and the rear.
The Vanneck family owned it for many years before Harry Malak bought it in 1973, and it is still family-owned. Its claim to being Detroit's oldest bar is contested, and WDET's CuriosiD report lists several rivals.
Everything that was here
- 1876–present · still open
Two Way InnBar
A Civil War colonel founded this bar in what was then the village of Norris, and it has been pouring in the same building since 1876.
See the map in 1877 →
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Connected places
Nick and Al's Friendly Inn
The Four Deuces
French Country Inn
Baker House
Friar's Inn
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Nearby history
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Phelps Lounge
Packard Automotive Plant
Packard Motor Car Company
The Motown Mansion (Nels Michelson Estate)
Paradise Valley Entertainment District
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