Shadows

Opened in 1980 at 704 N. 3rd Street in downtown Harrisburg, Larry Wilson opened Shadows in response to the desire and need of the LGBTQ+ community in Harrisburg to have more full-time gay bars.

“When I bought it, I called it Shadows because, in keeping with this, you know, philosophy of gay bars being dark, you know, I wanted, you know, this is—when you go in there you see your shadows in the distance.But what I told the general population of the community, shadows meant that this bar sat in the shadows of the capital.” – Larry Wilson Oral History

Shadows provided another space for the LGBTQ+ community to congregate up until 1984, when Wilson closed the bar to focus on his new, larger bar space: The Archives.

Shadows Bar sign, circa 1980s. Courtesy of LGBT-010, DCA.

Shadows Matchbook, circa 1980. Courtesy of LGBT-023, DCA.