{"id":660,"date":"2026-02-27T14:19:48","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T19:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/yesterdays-news\/?p=660"},"modified":"2026-02-27T14:21:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T19:21:46","slug":"internationally-notorious-the-story-of-the-cellar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/yesterdays-news\/2026\/02\/27\/internationally-notorious-the-story-of-the-cellar\/","title":{"rendered":"Internationally Notorious: The Story of The Cellar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pat Kirkwood. Gambler. Stock car racer<\/a>. Businessman. Beatnik Beelzebub. The great and powerful Ozymandian charlatan of chivalry and charm.<\/p>\n

Lord of the underworld weirdos from hipsters to gangsters with connections to anyone from Gene Autry to Amon G. Carter, George Carlin to Jack Ruby.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A man of controversy and public service, admired and reviled by the public alike, this eccentric character and his after-hours coffeehouse the Cellar made their mark in the alternative circles of Fort Worth…and have their place in one of the darkest days in American history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dark Prince of Jacksboro Highway<\/h3>\n\n\n
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Fay Kirkwood promoting a performance for the 1955 Texas Prison Rodeo.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Kirkwood had the “amusement” business in his blood. His mother Fay was a rodeo star that performed in Gene Autry shows and produced the first all-women’s rodeo during World War II. His father W.C. “Pappy” Kirkwood was a passionate gambling man\u00a0who ran the Four Deuces Club at 2222 Jacksboro Highway (though if anyone asked, he was an ‘oil operator’).<\/p>\n\n\n\n