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| Headquarters Tavern, Mineral, WA |
The Headquarters Tavern is a little gem of a place in the tiny old mining and timber town of Mineral, Washington, now known for its fishing ("Mineral Lake, home of the 10 pound trout"). I have found virtually nothing on the history of the tavern in primary sources, but the sign over the door and understanding of the locals is that it has been around under that name since 1904. It certainly looks pleasantly old, and features a grand old back bar, into which any number of nails and hooks have been indelicately whacked.
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| Headquarters Tavern, Mineral, WA |
The Headquarters boasts "the best pizza in town," and given that this is the only bar or restaurant in Mineral, I would not expect many challenges to that. Across the road, and sloping down toward the south banks of Mineral Lake is campground full of trailers and tents of fishermen. The headquarters hosts these and a few local characters. When I returned to my beer and barstool after a look around one an older fellow kindly informed me that "I didn't spit in yet." This fellow's name was Richard, though most people refer to him as "Crawdad," and we chatted about the area and the crustaceans he liked to eat.
The Headquarters offers most of the staples of a contemporary small town dive - pulltabs, karaoke, bingo, poker, Taco Tuesday, and generous, cheap pours. If it does indeed go back to 1904 under the same name, this would make it one of the dozen or so
oldest bars in Washington state. In any case I would love to find any historical references or photos from previous decades.
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Lion's Den Campground, on Mineral Lake,
across from the Headquarters Tavern |
112 E Front St, Mineral, WA 98355 - (360) 492-3261
Est. 1904
Web site: headquarterstavern.com
Reviews: yelp
#2169 - Headquarters Tavern, Mineral, WA - 5/17/2013
3 comments:
the back bar was taken out of a bar that was built in the 1800s which was one of the first bars in the territory mineral was a lot larger in its hay day my mom owned it from 1975 till around 1980 when she sold it to the wherehouser corp there was a lot of neat thing she left in the bar when she sold it and the people who ran it stole or sold everything I wish she would have kept some of the neat stuff that hung from them walls for years we bought from jim bennet and his wife and lived in a single wide trailer behind the ;bar the day my mom bought the bar the only store in town burnt down it was next to the fire station we built a little store next to the bar but everyone was already use to going to Tacoma to shop we put in some pinball machines but not enough kids to make any money there was a living quarters behind the bar but we turned it into a kitchen and later they took out the wall to expand the bar theres coins in the back bar it was good luck to throw coins up there I went up on a ladder got some but most went down the two tubes there used to be 3-4 taverns and hotel but town caught on fire never recovered there is a book about the railroad I think it was the Tacoma something railroad that has tons of great pictures of mineral in it hope this helps there used to be houses across the street and the mills used to line the lake the trains would dump the logs in the lake and the mills would pull them out and cut them up when I moved there Snyder shake mil was still standing and the blade was still in place later a blade from that mill was on the wall of the bar
Thanks to the person who posted the above for all the info. I'd love to hear any more you recall, e.g. your mother's name (and the names of any other past owners you might recall).
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