{{Short description|Historical gay bar in Massachusetts USA}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} [[File:Ptown A-House c 1905.jpg|thumb|300px|The Atlantic House; postcard circa 1905]] The '''Atlantic House''' (often called the '''A-House''', even in its own advertisements) in [[Provincetown, Massachusetts]] is a [[bar (establishment)|drinking]] establishment that has been in continual operation on the tip of [[Cape Cod]] for over two centuries.<ref name="ah">[http://www.ahouse.com/history.html The History of Atlantic House] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411232355/http://ahouse.com/history.html |date=2009-04-11 }}.</ref>
Having been an openly gay-friendly establishment for half a century and discreetly so for perhaps twice that long, the Atlantic House is a contender for the oldest [[gay bar]] in the United States. [[Frommer's]] calls it "the nation's premier gay bar".<ref name="ah"/><ref>[[Café Lafitte in Exile]] in New Orleans, Louisiana purports to be the oldest gay bar in the U.S.</ref><ref>[http://www.frommers.com/destinations/provincetown/N26669.html Frommer's review of The Atlantic House].</ref>
==Early history== The oldest part of the building (now the left wing) was constructed in 1798 by Daniel Pease, Provincetown's first [[postmaster]]. Pease operated the building as a tavern, but the name of the establishment at this time, if it had one, is uncertain. After Pease's death from cholera in 1834, the business was purchased by Benjamin Allstrum and became known as the Allstrum House. It served as the last [[stagecoach]] stop of the [[Orleans, Massachusetts|Orleans]] to Provincetown route until the arrival of the train in 1873.<ref name="ah"/><ref>Having been replaced in popularity by the advent of automobile transportation, trains have not come this far down Cape Cod for many generations.</ref>
When Allstrum died in 1871, Frank Potter Smith, a Portuguese<ref>"Frank Potter Smith" is not a Portuguese name. Sources consulted for this article do not explain this but two possibilities are that this is an [[Anglicisation]] of a Portuguese name (Ferreiro?) or that Smith was of [[English people|English ethnicity]] but came to Provincetown via Portugal.</ref> sailor who had arrived in town by sea at the age of 18, bought the Allstrum House. At some point, the original structure was joined with a larger adjacent structure that was fitted with guest rooms. Smith renamed the business the Atlantic House Hotel, and it has been called the Atlantic House since.<ref name= "ah"/>
==20th century== In the early 20th century, as the [[whaling|whaling industry]] that had been Provincetown's lifeblood since its foundation decreased in importance, the area became a mecca for artists and writers. As events leading up to World War I made overseas travel hazardous, the [[Bohemianism|Bohemian lifestyle]] took strong hold in Provincetown and Atlantic House became a center for their social activity.<ref name="his">[http://www.provincetown-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/874 Historical Timeline of Provincetown, Massachusetts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408120407/http://www.provincetown-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/874 |date=2013-04-08 }}.</ref>
In 1917, after the United States entered World War I, Reuben Kelly, a member of the [[Masonic Lodge]] next door, arrested two alleged spies at gun point in the dining room of Atlantic House Hotel: playwright [[Eugene O'Neill]] (who had recently won a [[Pulitzer Prize]]) and his author friend Harold de Polo. Suspicions centered on a black box the men had carried out to the dunes near a government radio station in [[Truro, Massachusetts|Truro]]. Rather than containing apparatus for signaling the [[William II, German Emperor|Kaiser]]'s forces, the box was found to contain a [[Smith Corona]] [[typewriter]].<ref name="his"/>
A plaque on the exterior of the Atlantic House today commemorates the time that O'Neill spent here during the 1910s and 1920s and notes that part of ''[[The Iceman Cometh]]'' was written during his stay. The Atlantic House was a hangout for other literati of the period. [[Tennessee Williams]], can be seen in photos that now hang in the bar in which he cavorts nude with male friends on the beach.<ref name="ah"/>
In 1950, Reginald "Reggie" Cabral and Mr. and Mrs. Frank J. Hurst bought the A-House. Cabral, who worked as manager, soon took over full ownership and made the long discreetly gay friendly establishment openly so. Cabral, a collector of art, graced the establishment with such decorative accents as a carved wooden figurehead said to come from the last whaling ship to operate out of Provincetown Harbor and signed works by [[Andy Warhol]] and [[Keith Haring]].<ref name="ah"/>
[[File:Atlantic House Provincetown.JPG|thumb|right|250px|The A-House today]]
==Layout== For the past several decades<!--more specific? Tricky question. The dancefloor may have been added by Cabral in the 1950s or maybe earlier. I've no clue when the upstairs Macho Bar was added nor when they started using the bit across the street that is now the restaurant. All I know is that the 5 parts nentioned were in place since the late 1980s.--> the property has consisted of five parts. There is the original tavern, now known as the Little Bar, an intimate space with a fireplace and jukebox. Upstairs from it is the Macho Bar, a space primarily for [[Leather subculture|leather men]] and decorated accordingly with [[International Mister Leather|IML]] posters, [[Tom of Finland]] images, etc. In the larger wing, the ground level is a nightclub with dancefloor. The area upstairs from this, once hotel rooms, has mostly been (and is currently) used only for storage. A small building directly across Masonic Place (the short, [[pedestrian zone|pedestrian way]] on Commercial Street where the A-House is located) was long used as a storage space but is now a restaurant called Grand Central. In the 1990s, a sixth area was added, an enclosed exterior area in back and to the right of the large building which greatly expanded the nightclub's capacity.<ref name="ah"/><ref>Advertisements from this place say "Provincetown's premier nightclub for over 25 years", hinting that the bottom floor of what was the hotel may have been converted into a dancefloor as late as the end of the 1970s.</ref>
One reviewer wrote: <blockquote> even with the competition the A-House draws in the most boys to dance on its small dance floor and to hang out on the large outdoor patio. During the summer months, you can't go wrong by choosing the A-House to dance.<ref>[http://ptown.gaycities.com/bardetail/535 Ptown's original and most popular dance club].</ref> </blockquote>
In addition to whatever other elements are present, most areas of the Atlantic House convey a "nautical feel" through decorative elements such as harpoons and oars attached to the ceiling.
==References== {{reflist}} {{coord|42.05710|-70.18431|region:US|format=dms|display=title}}
[[Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1798]] [[Category:LGBTQ nightclubs in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Provincetown, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Barnstable County, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Tourist attractions in Barnstable County, Massachusetts]] [[Category:1798 establishments in Massachusetts]] [[Category:LGBTQ drinking establishments in the United States]]