The Bella Union was a
saloon and theater that opened on September 10, 1876, in
Deadwood, South Dakota
Deadwood (Lakota: ''Owáyasuta''; "To approve or confirm things") is a city that serves as county seat of Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch. The city had it ...
.
The proprietor was Tom Miller, an aggressive businessman who would buy several neighboring properties as well.
Bella Union Saloon was a relatively upscale establishment where town meetings came to be held.
In November 1878, Tom Miller went bankrupt, and the Bella Union became a grocery store downstairs and a meeting hall named Mechanics' Hall upstairs.
In popular culture
A fictionalized version of the saloon appeared in the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
television series ''
Deadwood'' (2004-2006), where the owner was the character
Cy Tolliver. In ''
Deadwood: The Movie'' (2019), which is set ten years after the third and final season of the television series, Tolliver has since died, and the saloon is now owned and run by its former madam
Joanie Stubbs
This article contains descriptions and biographies of fictional characters appearing in the HBO original television series '' Deadwood'' and in 2019's '' Deadwood: The Movie''.
Cast Main cast
Recurring cast
Main characters Seth Bullock
Set ...
. In the musical,
''Calamity Jane'' (1953), the character Henry Miller (not Tom), is the proprietor of the town's saloon and theater.
References
Drinking establishments in South Dakota
Buildings and structures in Deadwood, South Dakota
1876 establishments in Dakota Territory
Theatres completed in 1876
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