The History of DC’s First Gay Clubs

Recognize this facade? Nob Hill in Columbia Heights was one of the first openly gay bars in both D.C. and the U.S. It is now home to Wonderland Ballroom.

When Nob Hill opened, D.C. was still very much racially segregated, and it catered mainly to gay Black men who were shut out of queer nightlife. It opened in 1953 as a private social club, but became a public bar just a few years later and remained in business for over 50 years. It is considered D.C.'s longest-operating gay bar.

The bar hosted everything from male dancers to weekly “Gospel Hours” with the local church. The low-key club was known as “a house party that charged a cover,” and some of the longtime regulars even had their own personal glasses.

Nob Hill is known as the "granddaddy of Black gay clubs” and kicked off a booming gay nightlife scene in D.C., which has only gotten stronger.

Nob Hill closed in 2004 after being charged and fined with several alcohol code violations by the city. Today, the building has been revived as Wonderland Ballroom, an equally divey house party-like bar that has become a D.C. classic for all ages and orientations.