San José City Landmarks

Originally named El Dorado Street, downtown San Jose’s Post Street was once a notorious red-light district lined with brothels, saloons, and gambling halls. Today it is the proud heart of the city’s LGBTQ community, now known as the “QMunity District.” No building better tells the story of Post Street than the landmark Glein-Fenerin Building, the stately Italianate edifice at the corner of Post and Lightston Alley. A watering hole for most of its 147-year history, it has been known by many names: Orpheus Saloon, Bird Saloon, Eugene Votzenlogel’s Saloon and Bath House, P.H. Sullivan’s Saloon, A.C. Bassie’s Saloon, Billy Finley’s Saloon, and more. It has also doubled as a bordello, a gambling den, a barbershop-fronted speakeasy, and a pawn shop. Vacant for most of the 1990s, the building was restored in 1997 and is now home to Splash, a popular gay nightclub.