By Ken Kocab
The idea of progress is many times a double-edged sword. Over time, any American town experiences both positive and negative changes. Congestion, pollution, and a rise in crime rates are just a few of the negative results of progress, while better medical care, access to shopping, and quality schools are some of the more positive effects.
Englewood has changed greatly since its founding in 1896. Originally known as a sleepy fishing village, our town today has all the modern conveniences progress can offer. However, progress has sometimes required tearing down what people consider “outdated” structures to make room for modern conveniences.
In 1990, they demolished Wood’s Cocktail Lounge, better known as “Whiskey Corners,” which serves as an interesting example of this. People know the history of this venerable institution from the late 1920s, when it was called “Cash’s Corner.” This local drinking and dancing spot was at what is now known as the intersection of Placida and Route 776.
In late 1989, they put plans into place to build a modern retail center called “Merchants Crossing” on the land where Whiskey Corners stood. The planners decided that the residents of Englewood definitely needed a modern, up-to-date shopping center instead of this old neighborhood bar. In the spring of 1990, the bar hosted a farewell party where all the patrons raised their glasses for one last toast. A short time later bulldozers came in and quickly demolished 60 years of memories into the ground.
What made Whiskey Corners so unique was that for many years this was the one place in Englewood people could go to just to have a good time. There were other places to buy wine or beer in town, but this bar offered patrons a chance to have a drink, see their friends, and dance the night away to live bands. Whiskey Corners was also the first establishment in Englewood to offer hard liquor to its patrons.
The original name of the bar at this location was “Cash’s Corners,” named after Boyd “Baj” Cash, who built his establishment in the waning days of the Depression in the early thirties. Cash avoided problems with the authorities and supplied his patrons with all their alcohol needs. The bar measured 35 x 32 feet and featured two entrances: the left door led to the package store where one could get any kind of beverage to go, while the right side door was the entrance to the bar itself. The only barrier separating the bar from the package store inside was a wall of chicken wire. They mainly erected this to enforce an unspoken segregation law which allowed people of color to buy liquor at the package store but prohibited them from drinking in the bar area.
In 1941 Cash sold the bar and a sizable chunk of property that surrounded it to Lou Woods. Woods and his wife, Anna, were carnival people who first visited Englewood in the twenties. Woods was the head cook for a circus called “The Royal American Show.” While Woods was feeding over 200 circus people every day, he told them about the benefits of spending their off-season in Englewood. Many of them followed Woods to our town, and by the 1930s a sizable number of them were camping on or near the beaches in travel trailers during the winter months.
It was at this time Woods purchased the Chadwick Pavilion on Manasota Beach and converted this into “Lou Woods’ Casino.” The casino became a very popular spot for not only visitors from Arcadia and Punta Gorda, but circus people as well. Local people, however, did not frequent the casino, seeing it as a haven for outsiders. By the early forties, business was doing so well that Woods expanded his Englewood interests by purchasing Cash’s Corner. Because he oversaw all the operations at the casino, Woods hired a manager to run the new business, which he named “Wood’s Cocktail Lounge.” Locals, who were the principal patrons at the bar, called it “Whiskey Corners.”
In 1952, Woods realized the building that housed his “Whiskey Corners” bar was too small. He then built a spacious cement block structure on the site that included a modern bar, a dance floor, and lots of table seating. Once they completed the new building, they tore down the old structure, which stood 100 yards in front of it.
Unfortunately, Woods passed away in the mid-fifties, shortly after they finished the new bar building. The business continued to be called Woods Cocktail Lounge, and even though other entertainment venues sprouted up all over Englewood, the ambience of Whiskey Corners continued to draw a loyal and spirited following.
If one wanted to go dancing in the fifties or sixties, Whiskey Corners was definitely the place to go. Anna Woods, who continued to manage the bar after the death of her husband, would bring in live bands on weekends and not charge admission. One of the most popular bands that regularly played at the bar during the late sixties and the early seventies was the Hartman Band, starring Little Dottie Williams. Even going into the eighties, sizable crowds continued to show up on weekends for dancing and fun.
When the announcement came that Woods would close in 1989, area locals couldn’t believe what they heard. It seemed as if a significant piece of Englewood’s history was vanishing forever. A few days before the actual demolition took place, many long-time patrons visited the bar for one last drink.
When Whiskey Corners was open, Route 776 gently curved to the right onto Placida. By the time they tore down the bar, they had built a new intersection using right angles. For the first time, they placed a traffic light at the intersection. The original Cash Corners building ironically was directly under the present-day traffic light with highways on all sides.
As time moves on, and more and more newcomers visit or settle in our area, knowledge of places like Whiskey Corners will gradually fade away. There are many places in present Englewood where one can still have fun, but there will never be another Whiskey Corners.
