Snuffy's Saloon is pictured. (Photo courtesy of the Marquette Regional History Center)

A few miles up County Road 550 from the Marquette city limits sat a drinking establishment that sparks fond memories from several generations of Marquette County residents…

Snuffy’s

The bar opened in the mid-20th century as “The Forest Cabin,” a rustic establishment that was planned as “a classy joint,” a place for local residents to hold wedding receptions and baby showers. The Forest Cabin, in fact, even had its own piano for instances such as those.

However, the club rapidly picked up a different reputation and another name among area residents. Depending upon which legend you believe, a fight early in the history of The Forest Cabin between either two lumberjacks or between one of Louis Kaufman’s daughters and another individual led one of the participants walking away with an injury that defined the bar for a generation-

“The Broken Jaw”

Fights at the establishment were common over the next decade, giving The Broken Jaw another nickname, “The Bucket of Blood.” Tales are still passed around about a fight between lumberjacks and a group of miners, which ended up with the lumberjacks using their logging truck to drag the miners’ car into the Yellow Dog River, as well as a couple who got engaged at the bar, and then after several drinks got into an argument, which led to an engagement ring being tossed into the parking lot.

Both members of the couple, after sobering up the next morning, went back to the Broken Jaw in search of the engagement ring. There was no word as to whether or not it was ever found.

But the bar changed both its name and its reputation when it was purchased in 1966 by Donald and Francis Smith. Donald was a World War II submariner, serving aboard the USS Tuna and USS Redfin, while Frances-or Sis-worked as a secretary for several local doctors. The couple had been the managers at the Halfway Tavern, near where they had a camp, and were looking to purchase their own establishment. By then, The Broken Jaw had been closed for several years, so the couple purchased it and reopened it using Donald’s nickname-

Snuffy’s

Under its new owners, Snuffy’s became a hot spot for music and dancing. Many local groups were featured at the watering hole, and it also started to fulfill the promise of The Forest Cabin when it first opened, as it became one of the go-to places in Marquette for events like wedding receptions. For many years, families on a day trip to Sugar Loaf or to Big Bay would stop at Snuffy’s for lunch or to listen to the bands performing.

Then, the 1970s occurred.

Fans of Snuffy’s recall nights like the one where a streaker ran through the establishment, clad only in a snowmobile helmet. And as the decade wore on, and times changed, the bar adopted a new slogan, one that would define it for the rest of its existence-

“The Place of the Middle-Aged Swinger.”

Snuffy’s went the equal opportunity route, hiring both female and male strippers, often performing one right after the other. The male dancer, a gentleman named Frenchy, even became a bit of a local celebrity, as he told customers he only disrobed to make enough money to buy a ranch in Montana.

Despite the colorful cast of characters and the rich history of the bar, it eventually closed in 1983, the victim of a change in Michigan’s drinking age and of Snuffy’s declining health. He died a year later, while Sis passed away in 2005.

However, the building that had once housed “The Bucket of Blood” still had two more lives to lead, first as “The Rainbow Connection,” which was opened by Marquette theater impresario Venetia Bolz as an alcohol-free teen club. When that venture failed, it was turned into the Center for Native Americans in Marquette County, used by local groups for pow-wows and gatherings.

The building, which had evolved in use over the decades, was eventually torn down. Memories of it, however, will linger in the local collective consciousness for years to come.

Stories such as this will be the focus of Happy Hour: The Legendary Bars of Marquette (And the Stories You May (Or May Not) Remember) Walking Tour, put on by the Marquette Regional History Center on Wednesday, July 30. The walk begins at 6:30 at the History Center, with a suggested $5 donation. For more information, call the History Center at 906-226-3571, or visit marquettehistory.org.