The building that now houses the bar originated as a slaughterhouse, constructed in the mid 19th century. A well was dug beneath the basement to collect the blood and fluid that flowed from the animals killed therein. After the building was abandoned of its original purpose, the well remained. Satanic cults then took the opportunity to collect the blood and use the grounds for ritual. Though the rest of the building has been replaced, the well in the basement is there to this day.
In 1896, the satanic activity taking place in the abandoned slaughterhouse was exposed in one of the largest murder trials—and social spectacles—in the state's history. The victim, Pearl Bryan, was the daughter of an affluent farmer in Indiana. Pregnant with her boyfriend's child and at a loss of what to do, Pearl let her boyfriend convince her to abort the child. He made the arrangements with a friend, Scott Jackson, who was attending the dental college in Cincinnati at the time. Though Scott seemed a convenient and private route through which to dispose of the unwanted pregnancy, Pearl's boyfriend never suspected the disturbing truth that Scott was involved in satanic activity.
In early February, 1896, Pearl left her home and traveled to meet Scott and his roommate Alonzo Walling in Cincinnati, five months pregnant. Scott's ability to perform the abortion was less than well-tuned, however, and he attempted several gruesome methods of inducing abortion, to no avail. They soon found themselves with a still pregnant, but greatly injured Pearl and few options. They took her across the state border into Kentucky and using his dental instruments, Scott severed her head—whilst Pearl was still alive.
Pearl's headless body was discovered less than two miles from the slaughterhouse. Her head was never recovered, and legend states that it was used by the roommates in a satanic ritual in the slaughterhouse, and then dumped into the basement well. The roommates were offered a life sentence in exchange for execution if they revealed the whereabouts of Pearl's head, but they refused. They said that to do so would be to risk Satan's wrath. Scott and Alonzo were brought to trial in 1897 and quickly convicted, as irrefutable evidence—such as Pearl's hair found in Scott's room—was presented. Pearl's boyfriend was tried as an accomplice. Tickets were sold to the proceedings and over 5,000 people waiting outside the courthouse for news of the events transpiring inside. The roommates were hung on March 21st in the same year.
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