First Street Tavern was opened in December 1981 or January 1982. The first appearance of the bar in LGBT periodicals was in the January 1982 issue of Escape magazine: a cover photo of the owners, Larry Fleege and Leroy Stern, and inside the issue a photo of the Grand Opening party. We also have information from one Facebook contributor who once worked as a bartender there.

'First Street' largely catered to the levi/ leather crowd, for a time offering $1 off drinks for those in leather or softball uniforms. Bar patrons formed an SSBL softball team within two or three months of opening. They hosted at least one club night for the leather group Castaways with a beer bust and buffet, and at least one birthday party for a leather-scene patron.

Facebook contributor C.P. recalls: "I worked as a bartender at First Street for about 6 months in 1982. I was just 18 at the time. There was a gay couple that owned the bar and lived in back. The bar had a wood stove that had to be tended to keep the bar warm and had music from a juke box."

C.P. continues: "The bar had a small but loyal clientele, and also curiously attracted quite a few married "straight" couples. The wives would sit at the bar and have drinks while their husbands went off to find a trick, returning to pick them up at the end of the night. As I remember it, First Street was the first bar to uncover its windows, followed quickly by M&M Club who later claimed they were first."

In one of the first issues of 'In Step' magazine (v1-07 May 1984), there is a photo of the front of the building and the caption "1st Street Tavern is restoring their facade, also with open windows" (in reference to a nearly simultaneous undertaking by the M&M Club). But In Step v1-12 in October 1984 includes the mention "First Street (has) been gone for a while...", so perhaps the bar closed before the renovation was complete-- apparently the building was more attractive to another tenant.