Frank Caven was closely associated with Dallas, but the founder of a string of gay clubs was born in Philadelphia and opened his first Texas bar in 1963 … in El Paso. It wasn’t until the 1970s that Caven ventured into Dallas (and later Houston), eventually taking his successful formula for bars national. The company incorporated as Caven Enterprises, Inc., in 1981.
By the time of his death at 68 in 1988, he had been owner of 60 clubs in Texas, Florida and Washington, D.C., among other locations, according his obituary that appeared in This Week In Texas two weeks after his death.
Today the company operates four bars in Dallas — TMC: The Mining Company, JR.’s Bar & Grill, Sue Ellen’s and S4. But in its heyday, the list contained very different names. Among Caven’s Dallas bars were The Candy Store, Mark Twain, LaFitte’s, Mother Blues, The Wooden Nickle and 4001.
The Old Plantation (later renamed Village Station) moved to Cedar Springs Road, where S4 now stands, from Downtown when the Dallas Museum of Art purchased land to move from Fair Park and build a large new facility. Throckmorton Mining Company was already a few doors away.
Current Caven president, Greg Kilhoffer, said JR.’s was named for someone locally, but at the time, Dallas was the biggest hit on TV. So the company capitalized on the connection and a few years later opened Sue Ellen’s, named after J.R. Ewing’s TV wife. Actors Larry Hagman and Linda Gray, who portrayed J.R. and Sue Ellen on the show, both visited the bars several times.
Caven event manager Chris Bengston joined the company in 1985. She said she worked at Old Plantation until it closed. She said crews rapidly ripped out much of the interior and within a few weeks, the first Village Station opened.
Village Station had been in the building now occupied by Zini’s and Skivvies, former site of the company’s other disco, 4001. In the ’90s, the bar moved again to the current location. Finally, Caven rebuilt most of the block into the current fourth incarnation of Village Station, known today as S4.
When JR.’s opened, that corner was best known for hookers. It took several years before prostitution moved from Cedar Springs Road to Harry Hines Boulevard. Over the years, JR.’s has been so successful, it’s expanded twice. Originally, the bar was long and narrow. The first expansion took in a space next door and the second doubled its size again with a second floor and balcony.
TMC was originally located where Sue Ellen’s stands now. The building was a wooden, single-story bar. Again, success meant razing the building and more than doubling its size. After the only other lesbian bar in Dallas closed several years ago, Sue Ellen’s and TMC switched locations.
Over the years, Caven bars have hosted everything from the BearDance each March (pictured), benefiting a variety of AIDS service organizations, to MetroBall in June, benefiting the Greg Dollgener Memorial AIDS Fund, to the Christmas project benefiting Sam Houston Elementary School located a block from the bars. During the height of the AIDS crisis, the company began the Caven Employees Benevolent Association to raise money to care for its employees affected by AIDS. Now, CEBA cares for any employee in a catastrophic situation. Today, the company is employee-owned and continues its dedication to the community.
LAMBDA WEEKLY RADIO SHOW
1982
RESOURCE CENTER
1983
STEPHEN PYLES
1983 (opened his first restaurant, Routh Street Cafe)
HUNKY’S OLD-FASHIONED HAMBURGERS
1984
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 16, 2014.