The Shanty

History

Owen Nugent opened The Shanty in 1937 near Tucson’s Ronstadt Center, moved it to Fourth Avenue in 1943, and died in 1947. His widow, Donna Nugent, kept the bar and in 1953 moved it to 401 E. Ninth Street, a 1905 building that had been a grocery and a church, later adding the patio. Their son Bill took over day-to-day work in the late 1960s and carried on Donna’s idea of the tavern as a neighborhood gathering place. The family-run bar is known for a wide imported-beer list and pool.