Historical Note: West Overton Village and Old Overholt Whiskey

West Overton Village Museum, Pennsylvania

Yesterday we visited the museum at West Overton Village in East Huntingdon Township, some 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The museum is housed in the old distillery and mill house of Old Overholt Whiskey, the oldest continual whiskey brand in the country. The distillery was established in 1810 when Abraham Overholt took over his father Henry's farm and converted his distilling operation into a major commercial business. 

We had been to the village a couple times before, and visited the new distillery on the premises, but this is the first time we'd been able to tour the museum now in the distillery building erected in 1859. The museum includes the Sam Komlenic Gallery, which is said to comprise "the largest publicly accessible collection of artifacts related to Pennsylvania's rich history of whiskey distilling," including some 270+ whiskey bottles dating from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries. (westovertonvillage.org) 

West Overton Village Distillery

The property, then extending over 263 acres, was acquired by Henry Overholt in 1903, and like most Pennsylvania farms of the time began to distill whiskey. When Abraham took over he "developed the family farm into an industrial enterprise centered around whiskey production," expanding the farm "into a village that included the 1838 Overholt Homestead, the 1859 combined distillery and gristmill, several brick barns, a cooperage, shops, worker housing, and numerous outbuildings." For the next 100+ years, up until federal prohibition took effect in 1920, "the Overholts maintained the tradition of distilling Monongahela rye, considered the quintessential American whiskey." (ibid) 

Starting in 1881, the operation was owned and run by Abraham's grandson Henry Clay Frick. In that same year Frick, who had been born in the village and already become wealthy from his coke coal operation, was introduced to Andrew Carnegie, and in the same year would merge his operation with Carnegie Steel and become its chairman. It was in this capacity that Frick would in 1892 precipitate the "Homestead Massacre," by loading up barges on the Ohio River with 300 Pinkerton agents, with the goal of opening the Homestead plant for non-union workers, forcing their way past the striking workers, their families, and other townspeople determined to keep the plant closed until ownership reached a bargaining agreement with their union. The resulting conflict and exchange of gunfire left 10 to 16 steelworkers and Pinkerton agents dead, and eventually the American labor movement significantly weakened. (wikipedia) 

For the highly wealthy Frick, the distillery "was a sentimental side-business," to which he added partners Andrew Mellon and Charles W. Mauck. In 1888, the product, originally labeled "Pure Rye Old Farm Whiskey," was officially named "Old Overholt," in homage to Abraham, and by 1900 was a national brand. When Frick died in 1919, with prohibition pending, this ended the Overholt/Frick family's involvement, as well as operations at the village. For the production of "medicinal" whiskey during prohibition and resuming regular production post prohibition, the company used only their newer location in Broad Ford, PA. The company would be sold to various interests over the following decades, most notably to Jim Beam in 1997. (wikipedia)

The whiskey would change its mash bill and decline in quality and reputation over the next 20 years. But happily, beginning in 2017, new versions of the product would revive its reputation with serious whiskey fans and the craft cocktail world. For a good description of this I quote from an article by Eric Zandona on his EZdrinking blog:

"... Beam decided to move production of Old Overholt from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, changed the mash bill to the minimum 51% rye and drop the bottling strength to 80 proof. 

For about 27 years Old Overholt sat as bottom shelf whiskey overshowed by other more popular whiskeys in the Beam portfolio....  but in 2017, the now Beam Suntory began to get label approval for several new Old Overholt expressions. For the first time in about 30 years, Beam Suntory re-released a bonded version of Old Overholt which cause quite a buzz among whiskey writes and bartenders. And, two years later in 2019, Beam Suntory increased the standard bottling strength from 40% to 43% ABV. From then on there has been a steady release of new Old Overholt expressions which has helped to revitalize the brand from its bottom shelf ignominy to a brand that is once again well respected and sought after by American whiskey fans. It has been exciting to see Beam Suntory put some money and effort into supporting this historic brand by creating new and interesting offerings such as the return of the 4-year age statement on the standard bottle, the 11 Year Old Cask Strength, and the A. Overholt Straight Rye made with a traditional Pennsylvania rye whiskey mash bill. Hopefully this trend will continue and who knows what we will see in the future for this more than 200-year-old brand."

Bourbon Culture adds "Things changed yet again in 2023 when Beam rolled out with a cask strength, 10-year-old Old Overholt. Then came the news that this would be an annual review where the age should continue to increase."

Finally, while the village no longer owned the Old Overholt name, in 2020 it opened a new distillery on the premises, producing its own set of rye whiskeys under the West Overton Distilling name, as well as collaborating annually with other distilleries such as Stoll & Wolfe and Dad's Hat on blends. These and a small set of rotating cocktails are available in a remodeled 19th century barn across the road from the old residence. 

West Overton Village circa 1867
homestead, spring house, and distillery/grist mill buildings still intact today

Links: westovertonvillage.org - karensbranches - EZdrinking - thebourbonculture

wikipedia: West Overton - Homestead Strike - Henry Clay Frick 

See all Historical Notes 

Historical Note: The Tito House, Pittsburgh, PA

The Tito House, 1817 5th Ave, Pittsburgh
August 2025

Last August I was exploring Pittsburgh's Uptown neighborhood and discovered this rather augustly decaying house along 5th Avenue. Just recently I learned that the place - current state notwithstanding - is a controversial historical landmark. The circa 1884 house was once home to Joe Tito, part owner of the great Negro League team the Pittsburgh Crawfords, prominent bootlegger during prohibition, owner Latrobe Brewing Company, and key figure in the rise of the La Cosa Nostra crime family. Tito built the brick garage still standing on the lot in 1922 to host the trucks moving his bootleg whiskey and beer throughout the region. At the close of prohibition Tito and two brothers purchased the Latrobe Brewery assets, purportedly for money laundering purposes. But by 1935 Frank Tito was advertising Rolling Rock Ale, available at the garage, which now served as their Pittsburgh area beer distribution center, a function that would until circa 1977. The House would remain in the Tito family until 1973.

Tito House garage, 1818 Colwell, Pittsburgh
Google photo - Oct 2024

One bit of serendipity in a search for information about the house is the expansive historic site nomination form by David S. Rotenstein, which provides a broad and highly readable addendum -- "Addendeum 8 (History)" -- on not just the Titos, but the history of underground economies among marginalized American populations in Pittsburgh and cities around the country. I quote a few tidbits below and recommend reading the original to anyone interested in the era.

The last I heard, the city's Historic Review Commission approved the demolition of the garage and preservation of the house to make way for 254-unit housing project. The builders said they plan to recreate the facade of the garage on the property.

Selected notes from the Historic Site Nomination Form, by David S. Rotenstein, PhD 

"The Tito brothers began making headlines in 1922 for hauling and hijacking liquor. In December 1922, federal Prohibition agents raided four Penn Avenue establishments seizing more than 140 stills and other bootlegging paraphernalia, including trucks observed leaving the sites. Frank and Robert Tito were among the people arrested. Joe Tito subsequently petitioned a U.S. District Court judge to return two trucks seized. “The trucks were seized last week while it is alleged, beer was being transported in them,” reported the Post-Gazette. The dispute over the seized trucks spanned nearly four years and in 1927 a federal judge vacated the judgements against the Titos and others. 

In 1923, Joe and Frank Tito were arrested for hauling beer labeled as “syrup” away from the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad Company yards. According to the Post-Gazette account, Joe lived at 1817 Fifth Avenue and the brothers each got a $100 fine. One year later, Joe Tito was sentenced to serve eight months in the Allegheny County jail for another arrest and conviction for conspiring with A. Guckenheimer & Company to transport illegal liquor."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sep 20, 1939

"Joe Tito clearly occupied a prominent position in Pittsburgh’s organized crime hierarchy. By 1932 he might have been one of the city’s leading organized crime bosses who built his wealth and power in bootlegging and numbers gambling. Newspapers reporting on his questioning in the Volpe triple murder case recognized that he was a special case. The Post-Gazette reported that Tito was shown “special consideration” while being questioned: “His entrance and exit were made with the utmost concern for his privacy.”32 Tito achieved his powerful position in a well-established organized crime setting with roots in the mid-nineteenth century.

These activities comprised a significant informal economy in Pittsburgh and other places that provided thousands of jobs to immigrants from Europe and Blacks arriving from the South in the Great Migration. Informal vice economies offered economic and social opportunities to groups that faced anti-Semitism, anti-Black racism, and anti-Catholicism. Unable to land good jobs in Pittsburgh’s mills, buy and rent homes with racial and ethnic deed covenants attached to them, join prestigious social and civic organizations, and achieve the same levels of economic and social success open to other Pittsburgh residents, Pittsburgh’s early racketeers made their own parallel society in vice."

Joe Tito on steps of 1817 5th Avenue
Photo: Donna Brusco, via CityPaper

 'And finally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation compiled substantial testimony and evidence that document Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney built his sports empire in numbers gambling, sports betting, and slot machines. “Art Rooney, he was in with them guys on the North Side,” aging racketeer Sam Solomon told University of Pittsburgh historian Rob Ruck in a 1980 oral history interview. “They had the bulk of the numbers on the North Side.” '

-- 

The house was occupied by members of the Brusco family in 1968, when the occupants faced serious potential danger in the Hill District violence in the wake of the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. Donna Brusco recalled her father alerting police and sending her to bring back her grandmother Anna from the house for safety:

"Brusco arrived at the house and her grandmother was standing on the porch. About a dozen National Guard troops were lounging around in the front and side yards. Brusco recalls her grandmother yelling, "What are you kids doing out?" Brusco explained that her father had sent her to bring Anna to Mt. Washington and Zizza replied, "You tell your dad I'm staying. I promised these boys spaghetti."

 

 

1817 5th Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Constructed c.1884

(Associated garage at 1818 Colwell, c.1922)
Links: Historic Site Nomination Form - citypaper - historian4hire - vafweb - pittsburghpa.gov 

Historical Note: Stanley's Tavern(s), Pittsburgh, PA

New Stanley's Lounge, Pittsburgh, PA

The New Stanley's Lounge, still operating at 7403 Frankstown Ave, in Pittsburgh's North Homewood neighborhood, was established by Stanley McDonald Williams in the mid 1950s. Sorting out the history of Williams and his bars presented some initial confusion, as not only were there mutiple concurrent Stanley's Taverns in the city, and not only were there both multiple William Stanleys and multiple Stanley Williams in the city, but city guides often listed him as "Wm. Stanley" or "Stanley McWilliams. His name was often listed as "Stanley McD Williams," perhaps as a necessary distinction. Nevertheless, after sorting out the mistakes in these primary sources, it quickly becomes clear that Williams was a remarkable businessman, and while they may not be as large or famous as clubs like the Crawford Grills, for some time his places were some of the most happening joints in the city. 

Stanley's Tavern, Pittsburgh, PA - 1941
Teenie Harris photo via Carnegie Museum

Before he started opening nightclubs soon after the repeal of prohibition, while just in his 20s, Stanley Williams was already a big success in business, and widely respected in the community for his business acumen. He described his background briefly in a 1950 letter to the editor in the Pittsburgh Courier: ""I myself am a native of Barbados, came here for economic advancement and have become a fairly successful businessman in the city of Pittsburgh." A 1926 article in the same paper described the "Patterson and Williams" department store in which he partnered as an immediate success. By 1930, he is hosting an elaborate birthday party for his wife Syvella, whom local papers referred to with terms like "beauteous" and "charming but aggressive," and gifting her a "straight 8 Packard sedan in two-tone brown," while an orchestra played for a large number of guests in their much admired house. 

The original Stanley's Tavern
Teenie Harris photo via the Carnegie Museum

Williams was very involved in a wide range of social events and organizations promoting black businsesses. Among these he was a member of Pittsburgh's "Frog Club," a group with which I am unfamiliar, but which had enough clout to attract Duke Ellington and his orchestra to their annual "Frog Week" activities in 1953. 

 In early 1933 he would open his first nightclub, and his and Syvella's activities would be regularly featured in the news and nightclub gossip columns of the Pittsburgh Courier for the next couple decades (although with a wide variety of spellings of Syvella's name, at least when they strayed from the conventional "Mrs. Stanley Williams"). On April 17th of that year he would open the doors of "Stanley's Inn" to considerable excitement. The Courier called it a "real hotcha spot" with a "floor show, hot and peppery!" and noting "the proprietor is young progressive Stanley Williams whose business acumen is not news to patrons of local race enterprises." 

The 2nd Stanley's Tavern
Teenie Harris photo via Carnegie Museum

For whatever reason, a year and a half later the space would be taken over by Arthur Brown's Ambassador Club. Williams does not seem to appear on the nightlife scene again until May of 1939, when he would host another Grand Opening in the same location, this time with Jesse Owens in attendance. This would become Williams' most renowned club, even while he opened a second location on the opposite end of the same block, managed by his brother Charlie. 

Williams repeatedly closed for remodeling and upgrades of the facility. E.g. in 1941 he added the latest air conditioning system, making it "the only race beer garden in this area with an air-conditioning system."

Stanley's was packed even when there was no music playing, but there's no question the music was an attraction. This was especially true on Wednesday nights, when DJ Mary Dee was in the house. "Mary Dudley (born Mary Elizabeth Goode; April 8, 1912 – March 17, 1964), known as Mary Dee, was an American disc jockey who is widely considered the first African-American woman disc jockey in the United States" and (wikipedia)  The Nov 4, 1950 Pittsburgh Courier reported that "Station WHOD's queen of the platter pushers has kept entertainment moving for two years at Stanley's Lounge on Wednesday celebrity nights.... In two short years Mary Dee has made Wednesday the big night in town, with headquarters at Stanley's. Mary Dee has become a top goodwill ambassador and she's a real gone girl in every way."

Pittsburgh Courier, Oct 27, 1945

In 1952 the Courier would add, "Stanley's Lounge is one of the few places in Pittsburgh featuring live talent nightly in the underground bistro at Fullerton and Wylie. Cozy Harris presides over the piano, while Little Bea and Dannie Cobb take care of the vocal department. Mary Dee of Station WHOD pulls the mob with her talent shows on Wednesdays. Stanley Williams, the genial proprietor of the lounge, is making efforts to keep live talent going in the spot. There is no cover or minimum in the lounge at any time." Cozy Harris, playing piano and solovox, with Billy Climes on guitar would build a reputation for their unusual arrangements and "new sound" sessions. In 1954 columnist George F. Brown would ask "Is Stanley Williams planning something big for his lounge in Pittsburgh? Nice place that is a good showcase for trios and organs and singers. Right in the heart of things, too, and the place features three bars. Honest."

By 1953 Williams would have three clubs, a pool parlor, and a barber shop -- in addition to other business interests -- and employ 27 people. But there were some tragedies along the way. On April 3, 1949, a man named James Cannon, after arguing with Charles Williams in the 61 Fullerton Street club, shot Stanley's brother three times. Charles would die in the hospital on April 22, and the killer remained on the lam for two years before being identified after an arrest in Cleveland. Then in November 1952, another Stanley's night manager named Mario Squire, collapesed after being stuck in the chest with a beer bottle while trying to stop a fight. Finally, Syvella and Stanley would go through what appears to be a rancorous divorce, with Stanley repeatedly going to court to try and reduce his alimony payments as his business profits purportedly declined.

They Wylie block locations would eventually face inevitable extinction via a large, imminent urban redevelopment project, one that would widen streets and add a Civic Arena that would attract an NHL team, but that would also wipe out multiple churches, jazz clubs, restaurants and neighborhoods, ultimately displacing over 8,000 residents and 400 businesses. Williams was rumored to be negotiating a new location in 1954, but when asked about it elided the issue by responding, "The only thing I am interested in is building up my five-cent deal from seven until five every day and introducing Pennsylvania Dutch Beer for five cents less than popular brews. Other than that, you can tell the world, I am not negotiating."

The New Stanley's Lounge, 1958
Teenie Harris photo 

Williams sold the old clubs to the city in 1957 and opened the "New Stanley's Lounge" in its current location in July 1958. He still featured music, such as "The Fabulous Four." He operated the bar until he passed away in 1977. In April 1980 his estate sold the bar to Fred C. Johnson.

Links: blog.historian4hire.net 

Historical Note: Lee Tuck Lounge, 134 Steuben, Pittsburgh, PA

Former Lee Tuck Lounge
Pittsburgh, PA

In the early evening of Sunday July 20, 1902, the wife and children of well known local politician, hotelier, and saloon keeper Jacob Haule, in crossing the street to their home, somehow fell into the path of an oncoming streetcar and was crushed beneath its wheels. Haule was one of a handful of persons running a saloon in this building in the West End Village neighborhood of Pittsburgh, originally laid out as the dry community of Temperanceville in 1837, before being annexed by the city of Pittsburgh in 1874.

Constructed by Christ Gundlefinger in 1891, the building some 2,000 feet south of the Ohio River has contained a saloon at least as early as 1892, and most of the time from that point to as recently as 2015, although you would never guess that from the ramshackle state of the building today.

Leona Tucker purchased the property in 1977, and ran what would become the longest running and last bar, and perhaps the last residents, to be hosted there during its 120 year history of serving drinks. (Leona passed away in 2003, and I do not know how long she ran the bar herself.) The property is currently for sale. At least in its latter years the bar featured black exotic dancers. It was the scene of another tragic death not long before it closed. On Oct 24, 2014 Ronnell Smith was shot and killed by Lonnie Monk and Anthony Jetter he was leaving the bar.

Christ Gundlefinger sought a liquor license even before his new building was finished, but it's not clear if he got one. In any case by the following year John Kalb ran the building, and with no other licensed house on the street in 1892, began operating a saloon on the main floor. From 1898 to 1910 he would be followed by saloon keepers Jacob Haule Jr., his wife Lena Haule briefly after Jacob passed away, a Mrs. H. Schinneller, and Leopold Von Hedemann. In October 1910 Hedemann transferred the liquor license to Herman J. Theil, whose long run as owner would last through prohibition and into the mid 1940s, and would tragically include the murder of his son John, killed in the bar during an attempted holdup.

After some 35+ years as the "H.J. Theil Cafe" and the "Herman Theil Tavern," the bar would be operated in the 1950s by Marie Schram as the "New Steuben Cafe" or "New Steuben Restaurant and Bar." In the 1970s it would be known as the West End Lounge, before fairly long run as the Lee Tuck Lounge, which it remained for almost 40 years.

Despite - and largely because of - its current state of disrepair, and due to its presence between two large, empty lots along our main route from our home to downtown Pittsburgh, I've probably passed this building a hundred times in the three years we've lived in the area - each time wondering about its history. Catching up with the parts of that history cited here only makes me wonder all the more about its stories from over the years.

Lee Tuck Lounge flier - Sep 15, 2014

134 Steuben St, Pittsburgh, PA 15220

Est. 1977 - Building constructed: 1891

Previous bars in this location: Herman Theil Tavern, New Steuben Cafe, West End Lounge

Historical Note: Red Robin

Red Robin origin story
as posted in Robinson, PA 

When we moved to Pittsburgh in the spring of 2022 I was pleased to find a Red Robin Gourmet Burgers restaurant less than 3 minutes from our new home, and indeed I just enjoyed a Banzai Burger just a couple days ago. They may be a large, nation-wide chain now (some 500 restaurants), but any long-time Seattlelite will tell you that it started from one joint perched across Portage Bay from the University of Washington, beside a sharply sloping parking lot that made one wonder if their vehicle might tumble into the bay. Some older residents will even recall that before it was purchased by local restauranteur Gerry Kingen, the place was a pot-soaked hippy and biker dive, with a Red Robin mascot that was quite obviously stoned.

Parts of this story (eliding the pot smoking) were enthusiastically adopted by the current Red Robin corporation, and indeed, a version of the story greeted me on the wall of our restaurant in Pittsburgh -- and, one presumes, across the country. Part of the origin story on the company web site, repeated in Wikipedia, and now in plexiglass within the restaurants themselves reads:

Red Robin mascot c. 1960s-1970s

"This building dated from 1940 and was first called Sam's Tavern. The owner, Sam, sang in a barbershop quartet and could frequently be heard singing the song "When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)." He liked the song so much that he eventually changed the name to Sam's Red Robin." -- wikipedia 

I really appreciate it when bars include documentation on their origins, and this is a nice story. However, when one reviews primary sources it does not appear to be true. For starters, the place appears to have been constructed in 1916 rather than 1940, and to have been named "Red Robin" for several years and multiple owners before Sam [Caston]. Polk directories begin listing Red Robin at the address in 1942 under owner H.M. McDonald and later J.R. Raymond. Even earlier it is listed under bars from 1940 to 1942 with just the name of owner Glenn McCall. Sam Caston appears to have taken ownership sometime between 1951 and 1953 (inclusive), and one guesses that he simply changed Red Robin to "Sam's Red Robin." 

Original Red Robin location c.1969
Paul Gillingham photo

In addition to Sam not starting the business or originating the Red Robin name, the location on Fuhrman Road above the UW would appear to not be the original location. There is a "Red Robin" bar listed at 1319 3rd Avenue in downtown Seattle in 1935 and 1936, and closing or moving shortly before the place of the same name happened to open across from the university.

When it comes to the hippy/biker/student era a few decades later, we have the benefit of having many old patrons still around, including local  historians Paul Dorpat and Roger Wheeling. I'm taking the liberty of adding a few comments from locals about those times, taken from a Facebook conversation and a great Clay Eals article, to help capture the flavor:

1937 view of building that would become Red Robin
(Building constructed in 1916)

• "I had friends down the street. We went there often. I remember peanut shells all over the floor. '69 '70 maybe '71." Gary H.
• "Friday was $.10 beer night, with $1.25 burger baskets. Usually got there early and bought $2.00 worth of beer, filling the table. By 9pm, we were relieving ourselves off the back deck. Great times. That's the Red Robin I know." David M. 
• "During the ‘60’s I lived a little south of the Red Robin. When me and my young buddies walked by we made sure to walk on the sidewalk across the street out of fear of the bikers out front. We had heard stories." Kim S.
•  "In the old Robin, if they’d passed a pool cue around, someone would have smoked it." Seattle Times restaurant columnist John Hinterberger
• "Had my first legal beer there in 1957. Was there quite a bit. My favorite Tavern and in those days a hangout for the poets and artist colony in the houseboats below. Sam, the then owner was encyclopedic in his knowledge of Pacific Coast League baseball and the Seattle Rainiers. Seattle lost a great institution when Sam sold it." Stan W.
• 'The original was the best. I had short hair because I was in the service. 1967. So I would hear , “narc. Narc”. When I’d go in. Until the regulars go to know me.' Don M.
• "I am a vendor for Red Robin and supply all 535 stores. last time I was at corporate (in Denver Colorado now) they said they just couldn’t keep the property because it was literally falling apart and slipping down the hill. I don’t think they really had a choice whether to keep it or dump it from their portfolio." Carol D.
• "Did a lot of etched glass work for RR, and other Kingen establishments when working for Trade*Marx Sign Co early '80s." Ryan C.

Interior view of Red Robin c.1973
Photo via Chuck Gould

The evolution from ramshackle student hangout to corporate gourmet burger chain began in 1969 when the restaurant was purchased by Gerry Kingen. Kingen grew up working in his parents' restaurant while attending Renton High, and after purchasing the Red Robin would also become known to Seattlelites for establishing its first fern bar " Boondock's, Sundecker's & Greenthumb's," the steak and lobster house "Lion O'Reilly's & B.J. Monkeyshine's," singing waiter location "The Great American Food & Beverage Company," legendary dive "Blue Moon Tavern," music venue "Warehouse Tavern and Nightclub," and iconic Seattle seafood brunch home "Salty's."

Over the next few years Kingen would expand and remodel the Robin location and revamp the menu. He added a strip steak based on the one served in the train cars of "Andy's Diner," and 28 different kinds of burgers, creating what he would describe as a "burgers and booze" model, and "a McDonalds for adults." (Seattle Times)  The concept worked, and he would soon open a second location in Northgate Mall. Although Kingen says he considered franchising at the time, that phase was actually kicked off in 1979 when Mike and Steve Snyder convinced him to allow them to become a franchisee of the concept. Mike Snyder's restaurants were a success, and he quickly expanded to 14 locations. (Yakima Herald) The expansion into a nationwide chain of hundreds would come after the franchise was purchased by Japanese corporation Skylark.

Large deck and parking lot expansion
Original Red Robin, c.1970
Photo via Taylor Ward

Kingen sold a 30% share to Skylark in 1985, and a total of 90% by 1987. Expansion continued but by 1995 sales were slumping in the corporate owned restaurants. Skylark turned to Mike Snyder, whose 14 franchises were thriving by comparison, as well as asking Kingen to return. Snyder would be named President and CEO in 1996. Under Snyder's leadership, the fortunes of the chain would turn around. and merge with Snyder's franchise units in 2000. Later, with approximately 200 restaurants in place, the company would go public in July 2002. (referenceforbusiness) 

Originally planning to expand to 850 restaurants, reaching at least as high as 572 in 2019, and with the stock peaking in 2015, the brand has struggled a bit, decided in 2018 to halt expansion (nrn), and settled back down to around 500 locations at this writing. In the meantime, the original location above Portage Bay closed its doors in March 2010, citing high maintenance costs. Although there followed rumors of a new restaurant in the old building, it remained empty until it was razed in 2014. A new 3-story mixed use building took its place, with the bottom floor hosting Johnny Mo's Pizzeria, a joint effort of buddies Johnny from New York and Mo from Chicago.

Re. the two great characters behind the modern franchise, Gerry Kingen carries on, currently working on expanding Seattle's Pecos Pit BBQ (local sports fans recognize its first location south of the baseball stadium). (pecospit)  Mike Snyder, whose son Graham started two restaurants of his own in Yakima -- Cowiche Canyon Kitchen & Icehouse and the E.Z. Tiger -- tragically died of a self-inflicted gun wound in Dec 2018. (yakimaherald) 

3272 Fuhrman Ave. E., Seattle WA
Est. 1940? - Closed March 21, 2020 - Building constructed: 1916
Web site: redrobin.com - facebook 
Articles: pauldorpat - seattletimes - mashed - referenceforbusiness - yakimaherald - wikipedia - 

Historical Note: Mary E. Thompson and the Minnehaha Saloon

Many years ago I came across this snippet of information from the book Seattle's Black Victorians, 1852-1901, by Esther Hall Mumford, via the historylink.org site: 

"In 1893, Mary Thompson, owner of Minnehaha Saloon dies. She was one of Seattle's wealthiest African American citizens at the time of her death. As the owner of the saloon and brothel, she earned a fortune in real estate, jewelry, and cash."

Particularly for someone with a hobby of studying northwest bar history, this was really damn intriguing. And yet with all my data and all my reading of Seattle history, I never found another mention of the Minnehaha, nor a shred of additional information about Mary Thompson -- not in sources of bar history, not in local black history, and not in local women's history. I found only the occasional repetition of the basic facts above. 

But recently, I found a series of newspaper stories on Mary and the bar in online issues of the Seattle Post Intelligencer that I'd somehow missed all this time. There were only a few articles, and with the first brief mention I found I was happy just to have a primary source confirming that the bar existed. But then the soap opera that unfolded about Mary's life was beyond anything I ever would have imagined.

It turned out that I actually did have a bit of the Minnehaha in my bar data -- an entry for a saloon of unknown name and inexact location belonging to E.D. Thompson in 1890. I would later find out that this was Edgar Thompson and the saloon was the Minnehaha Lodging House, located at 319 Jackson Street. The "Lodging House" portion of name referred to the rooms available on the floor above the saloon, i.e. the brothel. I have no evidence for how long the bar and brothel may have existed before then, with no mention of Minnehaha or E.D. Thompson in city guides of the preceding years.

I also confirmed the wealth of Mary Thompson, though estimates of the size of her "fortune" varied widely. In the Jan 19, 1893 Seattle PI, R.W. Stokes, her main heir, summarizes her net worth at approximately $2,000, or the equivalent of $200,000 today. But the Seattle PI estimated it at closer to $20,000 ($2 million in today's dollars), comprising the saloon, additional real estate, "considerable jewelery," a horse and carriage, and cash. (Seattle PI)  But let's back up a bit.

Edgar D. Thompson, then proprietor of the Minnehaha, died of consumption on June 29, 1890. But the inheritance of his estate (then estimated at $5,000) by his wife Mary Eddy Thompson was contested by Edgar's brother George. George maintained that at the time she married Edgar in Tacoma, Mary was actually married to another man, Caleb Eddy, from whom she never divorced. While I have not found an article on the resolution, Mary must have prevailed, as subsequent articles refer to her ownership of the saloon and other assets. 

Mary herself appears to have died in California in early 1893. Her own will leaves most of her assets and the role of executor to R.W. Stokes, a bartender at the saloon whom she describes in her will as "a husband and a friend" (despite her continued use of the Thompson surname), and also "the only one on earth I think is entitled to my affection and respect." But some thought Stokes had manipulated her into the will.

At the time she wrote her will in 1892 Mary had both a son and a daughter; but she states, 

"I have no recognized relations. None that I care to inherit any of my gains left behind. I, Mary E. Thompson, have two children living, a boy Johnne, 18 teen, a girl Maggie 17th. The girl I have not seen nor do I know that she lives or not but the boy has been around me going on three years. He has never respected me as a mother but has caused me much trouble." 

The son, the PI notes, is actually nearly 25 when she died, and was employed at the saloon. Stokes' status of executor was revoked because he could not maintain both this role and most the inheritance, and he eventually appears to have ended up with little to nothing, after failing to procure the appropriate bonds. (Seattle PI 3/31/1893)

As for the saloon, if it was in operation at all after Mary's death, the business was short-lived. The saloon was gone by the time of a news story of a fire in the building in October 1893, and it was torn down in 1894. By 1906 the area would make way for the King Street Station, where now travelers deboard Amtrak, and fans exit light rail trains on their way to Seattle Seahawks games

For several years I'd hoped for some additional information on Mary and the Minnehaha Saloon -- largely items that would fit neatly into a spreadsheet: the location, years of operation, changes in ownership. But when I finally found more answers they created so many more questions that I'll almost certainly never see answered. What was her personality like? What would Mary tell us about her experiences as a black woman making a go of it in the rough and tumble skid road area of 19th century Seattle? Was she happy in life, with her multiple husbands, few friends, and estranged children? Did her wealth help her or hinder her toward that end? Every answer just evokes a hundred more questions, but I'm glad for every little tidbit.

Historical Note: Gabe's and The Shamrock

Gabe's tavern, Seattle, WA
(Photo from back cover of Gabe's Dirty Blues)

    

Thanks to a post in a Seattle Vintage Facebook post, I recently became aware of the remarkable history of a Seattle bar in downtown Seattle during most of the 50s and the 60s. The bar itself, known first as the Shamrock Beer Parlor and later simply The Shamrock, had been in the divey location on 6th Avenue since at least 1934. The building no longer exists; after hosting the Nikko Garden Tavern through the 70s and into the mid 80s, it was demolished and replaced by the 44-story U.S. Bank Centre in the later 80s. But whatever its previous history, the Shamrock became a unique part of Seattle history when it was purchased by one Gabriel McManus in 1951.

Gabe McManus with his jukebox system, 1967
(Billboard Magazine photo)

McManus was a one-time whiskey salesmen who at an early age fell in love with jazz and blues -- or simply "negro music," as some knew it at the time. Over his life he collected and curated a mammoth set of singles, exceeding 70,000 carefully chosen sides, before he died. When he purchased the Shamrock he loaded the jukebox with his own records, starting out with just a single speaker jukebox and eventually expanding to perhaps the most sophisticated jukebox system in the country, with 40 pairs of headphones and 24 speakers in the divey 35'x60' space that he eventually renamed "Gabe's." It was a rough crowd of assorted characters, best described by Gabe himself on the album he and his son Mike McManus released just before he died in 1978. "Gabe's Dirty Blues" was a double (vinyl) album that collected 30 of the remarkable artists and performances that Gabe loved. And I doubt if there exists any better description of the bar, the music, and the melting pot of people than the one written by Gabe and featured on the back of the album:

"When I bought the Shamrock Tavern in Seattle, the seamen and street people didn't cotton up to me at first. It took 6 months for me and my crazy music to win them over -- and then it was standing room only for years. You see we started with blues and never changed except for jazz. That was it for 17  years. Jazz and blues -- you never had it so good. 

Hell, I didn't know that these singers were legends-to-be. I just loved them and so did my crazy customers. Sometimes during a break of music, the screams of the whores and chippies defying each other, I could never figure out why they placed such a distinction between giving it away and selling it. 

Jack and Betty helped me run the Shamrock for awhile -- then came Ed, an old seaman bartender, and his wife Maria. Ed and Marie came to my rescue many times -- they were one of the good things that happened at first. 

Jazz and blues -- folk -- rhythm and blues -- what a hell of an umbrella covers all these forms and interrelates them. But that is for the musicians, writers, managers, and the critics -- not me. I am a listener and have been for over 55 years. I just got stung with the bug and have been in love with jazz and blues practically my whole life. 

The tunes in this album were basically tunes I played on a juke box and the original Shamrock and later 'Gabe's,' a downtown Seattle joint in the 1950s and 1960s. Now we had an old jukebox with one speaker and we would turn it up as loud as we could. The customers were mostly seamen and street people -- pimps, hustling broads and chippies -- gamblers and boozers -- pinball mechanics (some of the most loveable bastards of all) -- pill-heads and addicts. It was a rough joint and we only had one light in the place -- the juke box. Constant fights -- the seamen were mean. But it was exciting too. Seamen and street people are something else and we never knew what the hell would happen at any given moment. Wow, did seamen love to fight -- drink -- screw and listen to jazz and the blues. And Jack and Betty were right in there with them -- running tremendous shifts. Jack started drinking pretty heavy -- but what the hell. Just another visit from the Liquor Board. And now we had another segment of society added to our unusual clientele -- the gay boys. They loved the blues and the seamen. Pretty touchy at times. Special rules and all that. One to the can at a time and no fraternizing with straights. 

I have always been confused as to the exact musical differences between rock and roll and rhythm and blues. Music experts can give you a technical difference. My ear tells me there is a great difference. Like as if they put a hill billy kick in a rhythm and blues tune -- it becomes rock and roll. One thing it seems to adapt itself to the white dancing styles. Just as soul music adapts itself to the black dance movement. 

Although I have been a blues and jazz addict most of my life, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be programming these sounds. True, I always collected jazz, blues, swing, and some popular music but this was dictated more by love and necessity (I owned a lot of taverns) than by reason. Blues and jazz are my obsession. This two-album set comprises just a few rhythm and blues highlights of the late '40s to the late '60s. Some of the greatest and toughest are not represented. It would take 20 albums to chronicle a fairly complete history of the great rhythm and blues hits. This saddens me but for what it's worth, here they are. These are 25 years of great memories shared by thousands of my customers. 

I particularly dedicate this set to my beloved son, Mike McManus, who shared my dream and made it possible; to Richard Schenkar, who unselfishly and devotedly gave the benefits of his extensive research in ragtime, jazz, and blues history to this project when it was just an idea; to my beloved friend Robert Hardwick, who discovered me, promoted me, put me on radio -- he's the first man on a commercial radio station who had the guts to feature blues, jazz, Dixieland, any old thing that Gabe loved and he did it with Our Hour -- four hours every Saturday morning -- and to my knowledge, first exposed the city of Seattle to Jack Dupree's famous song "Walking the Blues"; to Buddy Webber who played my stuff almost as much as Hardwick; and to Danny Niles, a real friend, who's helping us tell people about this album." 

-- Gabriel McManus, from back cover of Gabe's Dirty Blues

'"This is probably the highest priced [jukebox] location in the world. We have about 40 sets of headphones in here and more speakers than I can count." "Sixteen major speakers and eight complimentary speakers," said McManus. "All in an area that has a floor space of 35 by 60 feet. All of them playing the most authentic blues and jazz you've ever heard." ... "I first started listening to Negro music when I was a kid. Then when I was a whisky salesman in the Middle West back in the '30's, I used to hear some of the great early jazz, the blues and even gospel music in the clubs that were in my territory. I've been following it ever since and I have collected more than 15,000 singles through the years." "... I must admit that Max's suggestion to put in earphones, and all the fine equipment and service he has provided for me has helped a lot. He might not be making as much money from me as he does from his best locations," McManus said, "especially when you consider how many times I've needed instant service. When a tube blows out or something, I have to have it replaced immediately because my whole business depends on the sound system. But even with all the headaches, I know that Max [Mondshein] is proud of this location. For him, as well as for Galante (Ray Galante, of Music-Vend Distributing, who handles Seeburg products), this is a showcase of coin operated music equipment used to the utmost." 

-- Gabe McManus, Billboard, Jan 21, 1967   

"Gabe collected some 70,000 sides of blues and jazz. At one time he had them all stored in an attic cubby hole, until his son Mike one day suggested the discs really belonged in a vault. ...Mike also had some other ideas. He pleaded with his father not to keep the music under lock and key. The world deserved to hear this music again, the younger McManus maintained. Gabe agreed. Two years ago (1978), Gabe, Mike and several friends set about searching the ownership titles to some of the master tapes. By the fall of 1978 they had come up with several dozen tunes which they were able to license from the original owners. They picked 40 of the hottest tunes in Gabe's collection and had them mastered into a two-album set called Gabe's Dirty Blues. The package came off the production line just in time for Gabe to hold a test pressing and the artwork in his hands. Before the album could hit the stores, Gabe McManus died of cancer."

-- Jef Jaisun, Bellevue Journal-American  

Additional Links:  Spotify playlist - Be Bop Wino - Who is the Monk - Ballard Tribune 1981-11-11 

Historical Note: Doc Hamilton's Barbecue Pit

Warning: Offensive image included

Doc Hamilton's Barbecue Pit, Seattle, WA

I recently acquired the original art for the prohibition era cartoon by Seattle Times artist Stuart Pratt, included here. Of course what immediately leaps out to you is the anachronistic racism. But what really drew my attention was the subject: one John Henry "Doc" Hamilton.

Doc Hamilton ran what may have been the most famous and elegant of Seattle speakeasies during prohibition, what some people compare to Harlem's Cotton Club. He moved to Seattle from West Point, Mississippi and served in France with the famous 92nd (Buffalo) Division during World War I. From 1926 to 1931, Doc Hamilton's Barbecue Pit was located at 908 12th Avenue, the current location of The Chieftain Irish Pub, across the street from Seattle University. Below is a description from Paul De Barros's invaluable Jackson Street After Hours:

Racist Seattle Times cartoon of Doc Hamilton
c.1931 (collection of the author)

"Limousines lined the curb out front, while Seattle's social elect, including the mayor, ducked in and out of the club.  Downstairs was the action -- roulette and an all-night dice game.  Should there be a raid, the Barbecue Pit was prepared.  A complete alarm system of bells, bars, and pulleys, snaked through the building.  A button convenient to the cashier at the lunch counter was wired to a buzzer at the triple-barred doors of the cabaret basement."

John Henry "Doc" Hamilton
(Photo via blackpast.org)

A bit more, from Brad Holden's highly readable Seattle Prohibition: Bootleggers, Rumrunners and Graft in the Queen City:

"Guests would pull up to the front and be greeted by a well-dressed doorman who would escort them to their table. Once inside, Doc Hamilton would walk around and personally introduce himself to all visitors. The Barbecue Pit was always well-stocked with top-shelf booze, courtesy of [Roy] Olmstead's bootlegging operation, and offered a variety of delicious barbecued meats. It also served as one of the top venues for local jazz bands, so it was regarded by many as one of the city's best music spots.... Hamilton's speakeasy soon became the favorite watering hole of Seattle's business and political elite, with many important meetings held inside. The status of his clientele certainly helped keep his business from being shut down, and the Pit remained one of the city's top speakeasies throughout most of prohibition."

John Henry "Doc" Hamilton
(Photo via blackpast.org)

Like most of the more successful/notorious speakeasies in Seattle, Doc's places, including The Pit, alternated between police raids and police protection resulting from payoffs under the long-running, unofficial Seattle "Tolerence Policy," as fickle political winds blew. But whereas most arrestees were released to resume business hour, Doc was eventually given a 5-year sentence, most likely the event captured in this cartoon (which replaces Hamilton's obvious business sophistication with some blackface style jargon). A description from blackpast.org:

"Doc Hamilton was able to keep his illegal business running not only because of the status of his patrons but also by payments to local law enforcement officers. The payoffs, however, only provided protection for a while. The Barbecue Pit was raided often. For some time the police would simply jail Hamilton for a night and make him pay a fine.  However, when King County Sheriff Harry Lewis raided Hamilton’s suburban club, the bootlegger was sentenced to five years in a federal prison. Hamilton’s sentence was surprisingly severe, considering that no white prohibition club owners faced comparable consequences. 

Doc Hamilton was pardoned on September 8th of 1933, after only 10 months in prison. However, after losing his clubs and his regal, European style home in Madison Valley, he was never able to reestablish his former success.  John Henry “Doc” Hamilton died alone in the Mar Hotel in Seattle’s Chinatown in 1942."

The bar currently in the location evinces few hints of glory days of Doc and The Pit. The rollicking jazz and speakeasy scene here and largely south of Yesler have been largely forgotten. But an increasing number of books, walking tours, historical presentations by institutions like MOHAI, and articles appear to be reinvigorating interest in the era and its institutions. De Barros's "Jackson Street," out of print but available used at places like Amazon, remains the indispensable guide to Seattle's nearly forgotten jazz era.


908 12th Ave, Seattle, WA
Est. 1926 - Closed 1931 - Building constructed: 1926
Subsequent bars in this location: The 908 Club, Habibi, The Chieftain
Articles: blackpast.org - mohaiminute (video) - 12thaveseattle - capitolhillseattle