Pied Piper/Pied Bar (Provincetown Lesbian Bar/1950's to 2018/Exterior Bar Sign)

Pied Piper / Pied Bar — Provincetown, MA (1950s–2018) Long before it became the Pied Piper, the space began in the 1950s as the Ace of Spades—a private gay club operating during an era when queer nightlife still depended heavily on discretion and coded community networks in Provincetown. In 1970, the venue evolved into the Pied Piper, becoming one of Provincetown’s most beloved lesbian bars and a major fixture of the town’s LGBTQ+ nightlife for the next three decades. Located on Commercial Street, the bar developed a distinctly coastal, bohemian atmosphere that perfectly matched Provincetown itself: part beach town, part artists’ colony, part queer refuge. Like so many women-centered spaces, it served a purpose far beyond nightlife alone. It was community space, meeting place, summer ritual, and chosen-family hub all at once. In 2000, the venue transitioned into Pied Bar, continuing its connection to Provincetown queer nightlife into a new era before finally closing in 2018—bringing nearly seventy years of LGBTQ+ history in the space to an end.