According to Ephemeral New York - a fantastic blog, btw - the phrase "I heard it through the grapevine" may have originated in an 19th-century Greenwich Village bar.
Located on the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and 11th Street, it’s probably the first legendary Village bar. The Old Grapevine attracted artists, businessmen, Union officers, Southern spies, and politicians, who dropped by after visiting Jefferson Market Courthouse two blocks south.
It was such a gathering spot that the phrase “I heard it through the grapevine” originated there. (Yep, a grapevine used to cover the 11th Street side of the tavern).
The pub closed in 1915, and that corner now houses an apartment building with a "French Roast" cafe/coffee shop on the ground floor.
This edumacational moment brought to you by DavidDust and the good people at Arby's....
