Update: The Anchor
closed in mid 2013 and opened under new management in August 2014.
A bar was established here shortly after the building was constructed in 1906, hard by the railroad tracks, just up from Possession Sound, and constructed in the brick "flatiron" (wedge) style ala the Flatiron Building in Seattle which hosts the Triangle Pub. It was "Mulligan's" when it started in 1907, and some of Larry Mulligan's sign painted on the back north wall is still visible. Mulligan ran it until Washington state prohibition in 1916, with an interregnum during a local prohibition measure. As of the repeal of the 18th Amendment, it resumed tavern life as "The Anchor" in 1934.
It was recently a pretty rough place -- like bars named "The Anchor" around the world, one sailor told me, you went there when you wanted to get into a fight. However the crowd has much mellowed under current ownership, Holly and Jeff Gibson. They have cleaned up and expanded the place, adding a nice space for a wide range of live music and
open mic thursdays. It maintains many an homage to unions and the working man, including items on the "
Everett Massacre" when two deputies and at least five Wobblies were killed on the dock just down Hewitt Avenue.
The upgrades in decor, beer, food, and range of clientele make it questionable whether it still merits the description of a "dive bar." But while the brick walls ooze history and hard times, The Anchor is now one of the more relaxing and pleasant places to have a beer in Everett and the greater Seattle area.
Update: After this visit, the Anchor closed in mid 2013 and opened under new management in August 2014. It's much the same, but the new owner has barrel aged Negroni and Manhattan that are well worth asking for.
I don't know if this fellow was a customer before, but when we asked bartender Mari about some binoculars on the bar, she explained that there is a guy who comes in every day with something to trade for beers. Items included the binoculars, a candle holder, and a toilet plunger.
1001 Hewitt Ave Everett, WA 98201 - (425) 252-2288
Est. 1907 - Building constructed: 1907
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