![Former Alabama Basketballer, Founder of “Tuscaloosa’s Oldest Bar” Dies](https://townsquare.media/site/993/files/2023/06/attachment-Untitled-design-2.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Former Alabama Basketballer, Founder of “Tuscaloosa’s Oldest Bar” Dies
A local legend who founded a bar that calls itself the oldest in Tuscaloosa has died Monday morning.
Harry Hammonds was a Tuscaloosa native who was a star basketball player at Tuscaloosa High School and the University of Alabama before he reportedly turned down an offer to play in the NBA and opened Harry's Bar here in Tuscaloosa.
![Tuscaloosa Thread logo](http://townsquare.media/site/993/files/2020/07/512-1.jpg?w=100)
Get our free mobile app
Hammonds ran the bar, which is still open today, for 35 years before he sold it to now-owner Jake French. Bar staff said on Facebook that Hammonds passed away Monday morning.
Harry's, on Hargrove Road a short distance from the city's traditional bar districts, has been beloved by Bama students, locals and visitors to Tuscaloosa from the day it first opened more than five decades ago.
Top Stories from the Tuscaloosa Thread (6/5 - 6/12)
16 of the Top Stories published by the Tuscaloosa Thread during the week of June 5th, 2023.
More From Tuscaloosa Thread
![Minor Northport Bridge Still Closed for Repair of Crash Damage](http://townsquare.media/site/993/files/2024/07/attachment-IMG_6535.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Tuscaloosa Restaurant & Birmingham Distillery Release New, Exclusive Tequila](http://townsquare.media/site/993/files/2024/07/attachment-IMG_6523.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Police Searching Jack Warner Parkway for Driver Who Bailed After Chase](http://townsquare.media/site/993/files/2024/02/attachment-attachment-state-troopers-3_nl-1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Rider Killed in Thursday Motorcycle Wreck in Walker County](http://townsquare.media/site/993/files/2023/06/attachment-IMG_0176.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Diners Flocking to Northport’s Now-Open Lost Pizza Co.](http://townsquare.media/site/993/files/2024/07/attachment-LPCo-Crowd.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Northport Councilman Says $350 Million University Beach Resort Can’t Be Stopped](http://townsquare.media/site/993/files/2024/07/attachment-Aiken-Town-Hall-1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Former Lake View Mayor Now Accused of Producing Child Pornography](http://townsquare.media/site/993/files/2024/07/attachment-Paul-Calhoun-1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Former UA Student Gets 25 Years in Prison for Sextortion of Children](http://townsquare.media/site/993/files/2024/07/attachment-Yeager.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Tuscaloosa Red Lobster Permanently Closed Amid Brand Bankruptcy](http://townsquare.media/site/993/files/2024/07/attachment-IMG_6423.jpg?w=980&q=75)