The Black Cat opened in 1906 , shortly after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . In the early years , the bar was located in the basement of the Athens Hotel at 56 Mason Street in San Francisco 's Tenderloin neighborhood . This building still stands today and is now the Bristol Hotel . When entrepreneur Charles Ridley acquired the bar in 1911 , he turned it into a showplace for vaudeville-style acts . Over the next several years , Ridley and the Black Cat came under increased police scrutiny as a possible center of prostitution . In 1921 , the bar lost its dance permit and closed down
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Black Cat Bar