THE HAUNTED HISTORY

The Haunted History of the House of Bards

A Paranormal Exploration PART ONE
​( & YES IT IS REALLY HAUNTED- Just ask our staff! )    

Decades before it was named The House of Bards, our historic Tucson location had a long and interesting past tied to nefarious characters that may have done questionable acts behind the closed doors of this remarkable landmark.
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The structure and property that are now House of Bards, has existed for at least 100 years, and has been home to several businesses; most notably Paulo’s Steak and Chop House back in the 1950s, Oliver Twist in the mid 1990s, and Midtown Bar and Grill in the early 2000’s.
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Our research into this venue begins in 1949 when restaurateur John Paulos converted an old garden shop (built in the 1920’s) into a restaurant and cocktail lounge. It was a trendy and well known venue int own and catered to mid to upper class clientele. The convenient and busy location on the very hip Speedway Blvd combined with the appeal as a stop for musicians coming from the East coast on the way to Hollywood, Paulos became a prime destination for visiting celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe and mobsters like Jimmy "The Weasle" Fratianno who was a "Made" Man.  ( In 1953, Fratianno was a self-confessed accomplice in the murder of “Russian” Louie Strauss, who had unwisely attempted to extort Benny Binion) but we’ll talk about Jimmy in sec.
 
The restaurant, which survived several calamities, including a $125,000 fire (equal to the amount of $1,586,000 today) sparked by a charcoal broiler in 1957, lasted nearly five decades before closing in 1993 when it sat vacant for some time. And yes you read that correctly, the insurance check  written to John Paulo for the 1957 broiler fire was equal to over $1.5 Million Dollars in todays cash.

Whaaaaat!?
That information itself raises questions; Did anyone die in that fire?  Was there something on Paulos property that someone wasn't supposed to see? Was this insurance fraud? Could the mob been involved?  Let me tell you that this ghost hunt is beginning to feel like it's leading somewhere, but this was in the 1950's in Tucson, so there's going to have to be some old fashioned research involved here.

Circling back to Jimmy The Weasle. Besides the fire - If there was a time that someone may have violently died and then proceed to eternally haunt the House of Bards, the information is leaning towards the 1950's and John Paulos' mob ties.

Jimmy "The Weasle" Fratianno was the Mob Boss of the The Los Angeles crime family, also known as the L.A. Mafia or the Southern California crime family. Like most crime families, the LA Mafia were highly invovled and made their money in the 1920's and 30's bootlegging industry during prohibition. Eventually Jimmy The Weasle got caught and had to go to prison, and during his stint he turned into a Rat for the FBI. Years later, he wrote a book to tell about his mob life where he mentions Paulos in Tucson multiple times.

​Could there be bodies still buried under the rebuild? 
Want to come meet our GHOSTS?  We're planning something soon so stay tuned!

Our ongoing investigation into the reason why this venue would be haunted isn't over yet , there's one hundred years of research to do and not too many clues on the internet. What we DO have is two books written by Jimmy The Weasle that mention a deep mob connection to Paulos, and 1950's archives of The Tucson Daily Citizen. 

Written by Alanna Luna 
​Sources:
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson Citizen 
MobMuseum.org

Paulos Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge - Matchbook Circa 1950 : Photo Credit https://tucson.com/entertainment/