Description: Vintage 1960’s Original... LOOKOUT HOUSE Covington, Kentucky Restaurant Dinner MENU Measures about 14” x 10 1/2” closed. Gold & Red Marbled Metallic Shiny Cover with text Logo. Inside is 2 pages of food with wine list. The Lookout House burned down in 1973. From The Vault at WCPOCOVINGTON, Ky. – “A rich, colorful and century-old piece of Northern Kentucky history went up in thick black smoke and raging orange flames that destroyed the Lookout House Supper Club on Aug. 14, 1973. The spectacular late-afternoon fire stopped traffic on I-75/71 and caused several accidents, police said. More than a thousand people gathered along busy Dixie Highway to watch, media reported. The fire could be seen for miles, even across the river.” More history: “Under mob control at times, the Lookout House had been a glitter palace of illegal gambling, big-name nightclub acts and fine dining for decades. Frank Sinatra and Mary Martin crooned there, Jimmy Durante and Zero Mostel filled the main hall with laughter, and some of the top big bands, including Duke Ellington and Lawrence Welk, filled the dance floor. The three-story building had seating for 2,200 with 11 restaurants and banquet rooms. The Lookout House, at 1721 Dixie Highway, became the preeminent night spot in Northern Kentucky in the 1930s after the mob burned down its chief competitor, the Beverly Hills Supper Club. “Beverly Hills was, perhaps, a bit more chic, but the Lookout had an atmosphere that was livelier and uninhibited,” WCPO reported on the night of the Lookout House fire. Decades later, both clubs would come under the same owner and meet the same fate. Lookout House fire seen from I-75/71. With its posh gambling rooms, the Lookout House drew high rollers from across the country until an anti-gambling U.S. senator started a federal crusade in the 1950s and a Kenton County judge joined in to ice the dice. After raiding the club one last time, local authorities even held a bonfire and burned the gambling equipment – an omen of things to come. The Lookout House had its origins during the Civil War, according to lore and old newspaper reports. It sat on a hillside atop Fort Wright with an unmatched panoramic view of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. As the story goes, Union troops placed a lookout tower on the hill, fearing an advance by Confederate forces. The Confederates stopped short, but one lookout would lead to another. The first business on the site, Rush’s Tavern, might have opened before or during the war, according to Northern Kentucky historian Robert D. Webster. But it was most assuredly operating in the early 1870s. It was mainly used as a stopover for men bringing livestock into Covington, Webster wrote. Before 1900, new owners built a pavilion and hosted weddings, dances and other social events. They also built an observation tower for customers to look out over the countryside and changed the name to the Lookout House. In 1912, a well-known Covington saloonkeeper named Bill Hill bought the property and kept business going through Prohibition, according to Webster. In 1933, Hill sold it to Jimmy Brink, and that’s when the Cleveland syndicate busted in. The syndicate first offered to buy Beverly Hills. After the owner refused, the club burned down the next day, Webster said. Then the mob went to Brink, who cut a deal. He sold but continued to operate the club for the mob. Smoke covers the front entrance to the Lookout House. The Lookout House flourished until the early 1950s when gambling came to a halt as a result of a federal organized crime investigation led by Sen. Estes Kefauver. Kenton County police raided the business and revoked its liquor license. Soon after, Brink and an another man died in a small plane crash in 1952 after testifying before the Kefauver committee. The Lookout House stayed closed, except for occasional private parties, for 10 years. In 1962, brothers Richard and Robert Schilling bought the business and revived it to prominence.” CONDITION: Excellent pre-owned vintage condition. Some creasing and small tears to edge and corners. Light staining. See photos for details. Please message for any questions, thanks.
Price: 199.99 USD
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
End Time: 2024-12-23T21:30:49.000Z
Shipping Cost: N/A USD
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Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
