#2167 - Pour House Grub and Pub, Eatonville, WA - 5/17/2013

Chatting with Tony, the current owner here, and he believes that there's been a bar here since 1935 and that the current building was constructed sometime around 1902. However, the Pierce County tax records say it was constructed in 1950. Yet this article and others on the same site appear to place a building there since around 1900, which housed a pool hall and then confectionary for several years in the early 20th century, was largely gutted in a 1923 fire, and became the Olympia Tavern shortly after the end of prohibition. If one looks at the back bar in the photo this article about a brewhaha shortly after prohibition, it looks to be the same distinctive bar top as is there today. And indeed I believe based on address information and descriptions from this site that the pool hall in the right of this circa 1900 photo is probably the same location (notwithstanding the difference in placement of windows from the c.1916  photo).

Thus I'm inclined to believe that there may be vestiges of a c.1900 pool hall in the current building, that it started serving beer apparently without a license after prohibition and into at least 1935. Prohibition would have been in effect in Eatonville at least by Jan 1, 1916, when state-wide prohibition took effect, and serving beer would have probably been legal as of April as of April 7, 1933, when the federal Beer and Wine Revenue Act took effect just ahead of the end of federal prohibition on liquor sales Dec 5.  Washington state's 1934 Steele Act codified state liquor law allowing counties and cities to choose to remain dry, and it does not seem very surprising that the state of affairs would have remained in something of a state of confusion in years immediately after the 21st amendment was ratified.

In any event, it's a pleasant joint that *looks* old, and Tony's owned the place for four years. Before that it was known as the Blue Moon Pub at least back to the early 2000s. It appears to have been the "Olympia Tavern" or some variation thereof (e.g. "Bob's Oly Tavern") for most of the years between prohibition and then. Tony pointed out some of the other bars in the area, leading us to yet another diversion to the town of Mineral, WA. This is the fourth "Pour House" in Washington in which I've had a drink (also Aberdeen, Bremerton, and a short-lived one in Seattle). This Pour House serves your pretty standard beer, liquor and pub food options, and makes for a very pleasant stop in downtown Eatonville.

Pour House building c.1916
(Photo via eatonvilletorainier.com)

It was also the location of one at least one colorful scene in the confusing years immediately after prohibition.

Olympia Tavern c.1933, current location of Pour House
(Photo via eatonvilletorainier.com)

119 Mashell Ave S, Eatonville, WA 98328 - (360) 832-4782
Est. 2009 - Building constructed: c.1900?
Previous bars in this location: Olympia Tavern, Bob's Oly Tavern, Blue Moon Pub
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp