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Iowa has five bars that are still in business today since the Prohibition Act. Hull Tavern here in Des Moines is one of them. Jason Allan Boggs is the current owner of the Hull Tavern. He was enrolled at Grand View University in the Fall of 1993 as an art major and studied communications.

“I’m kind of a lifelong GV student,” Boggs said.

Hull Tavern opened in 1910 and has been on Hull Ave. since then. At first, the tavern was a local bar that only served beer.

 “There was a coal mine maybe 20 yards away from the back door so they would walk out of the coal mines come here and drink cold beer,” Boggs said.

Todd Bailey, a GV Alumni and current marketing specialist for GV’s marketing department, said that the tavern only served beer as most bars did around that time.

“You couldn’t get liquor,” Bailey said, “the only thing you could get was beer.”

Over the years, Hull Tavern has expanded and added more entertainment and events but has always remained a go-to hangout spot.

“I just try to expand upon the things that Hull Avenue Tavern has done in the past and just tried to make it better,” Boggs said.

His vision for the Tavern is to make the bar feel more welcoming on the inside as well as the outside. Boggs talked about making the outside of the bar more appealing to the public to drive people in. The history between GV and Hull Tavern goes back to the first days of the bar.

“[Hull Tavern] has been serving Grand View since 1910,” Boggs said. He went to school in the 90s and remembers going down to the bar with friends to grab a drink.

 Ryan Greiner, a trap shooter at GV, has been to Hull Tavern a couple of times with his friends over the past two years. Greiner described the bar as “lowkey.”

“It reminds me of the small bars back home,” Greiner said. 

When Bailey was a student at GV, he described the ambiance of the tavern as having a more relaxed dive bar feel.

“You’d just hang out and have a beer with your friends,” Bailey said, “If you didn’t want to have a beer you didn’t have a beer, you’d just hang out and talk to people.”

 Boggs is aiming to make the tavern into the “neighborhood bar it’s meant to be,” by adding new events throughout the week to try and draw more attention. According to Bailey, Hull Tavern didn’t hold events like it does today when he was a student.

“There definitely wasn’t any karaoke happening,” Bailey said, “It was just like jukebox music and there was a pool table.” 

Events include bingo night, happy hour for the GV staff, live music and karaoke nights.

“The first night was very successful and brought a lot of people out,” Boggs said.

The Tavern seems to be at the right spot because they do special drinks for GV students all the time, any time. Bryce Dean, a hall director at GV, attended one of the Tavern’s karaoke nights. He described the night as packed full of GV students.

“There were people on the stage singing all night,” Dean said. Hull Tavern is a great local spot for GV students and staff looking for a fun place to socialize. The events and nostalgic atmosphere make it a perfect place to relax with friends or reminisce about the good old days at GV.