#4271 - Tim's Bar and Grill, Kelso, WA - 6/26/2021

Tim's Bar & Grill, AKA Tim's Tavern, Kelso, WA

Tim's Bar and Grill in Kelso, previously known as Tim's Tavern and Tim's Timber Tavern, is half dive bar, half Kelso historical museum. The museum part is in the form of over 200 historical photographs of the Kelso area -- all or most from the Cowlitz County Historical Society -- which line the upper walls of the place, including pre-prohibition Kelso saloons like the Old Corner Saloon, Secors Saloon, and Swager Saloon.

The bar itself has been a substantial part of Kelso history. Tim Bonner appears to have purchased the Timber Tavern here in 1982 and run it for over three decades before he passed away in 2017. His daughter Teresa Bonner appears to have run it since. It was called Tim's Timber Tavern or just Tim's Tavern for most of that time. The Timber Tavern had previously been there since the 60s, and before that Howard's Tavern in the 40s and 50s, and perhaps earlier. The structure was built during prohibition (1923).

Tim's Bar & Grill, AKA Tim's Tavern, Kelso, WA

Beyond the large collection of framed photos, the bar is a fairly typical neighborhood dive, with pool tables, shuffleboard, a good selection of beers, and a menu of classic diner/bar food that emphasizes breakfast. It is located in an odd part of "Old Town" Kelso where Allen Street splits into a major road that bridges over the Cowlitz River and a smaller road of the same name that houses three blocks of small businesses before running into the river's edge.

213 Allen St, Kelso, WA 98626 - (360) 636-2627

Est. 1982 - Building constructed: 1923
Previous bars in this location: Howard's Tavern, Timber Tavern
Web site: facebook  
Reviews: yelp - tripadvisor - untappd - restaurantguru 

#3549 - Genoa Bar, Genoa, NV - 6/29/2018

The Genoa Bar, Genoa, Nevada

The first Europeans to settle in the region that would later be named "Nevada" were Mormon missionaries in the Carson River Valley in 1851. There they created a supply area known as "Mormon Station," for the growing numbers of emigrants passing through. The area was renamed Genoa in 1856, and in the following year, the LDS were recalled out of the area by Brigham Young due to the "Mormon War," as the LDS clashed with a federal expedition sent by President Buchanan.

The religious make-up of the permanent residents at the time is not clear to me, but it would seem that they were not all Mormons. as a saloon called Livingston's Exchange was established in 1853. That same building appears to have hosted bars or the majority of time from that point to today. I do not know how long it has been called the Genoa Bar, but it is at least several decades. The bar that remains there today retains that old west "thirst parlor" look and feel, the walls crammed with memorabilia that looks like it may have been last dusted before the Mormons left.

I personally tend to date a single bar back only as far as it retained the same basic name, but it appears that most of Nevada dates this one back to the founding of Livingston's, and hence the oldest bar in Nevada by some measure. It's hard to disagree with the decision when you step into the place. I don't think anything I write would improve upon the photos and this description in travelnevada.com, but nevertheless I will end with a few bits from other sources, primarily the bar's own web site:

'First of all...the building was built in 1853 and I was first open for business as Livingston's Exchange, then renamed "Fettic's Exchange" in 1884 and operated by Frank Fettic. I [the bar] was well known as a "gentleman's saloon" back then and I was "kept in first-class style in every particular way." Mr. Fettic served fine wines, liquors, and cigars. According to one of his advertisements, " would be pleased to have all my old friends call, and they would be treated in the most cordial manner."

I have changed hands many times over the years and in 1963, I was bought by the Bob and Betty Carver family who ran my great establishment until 2000, when they retired and sold the bar to Willy and Cindy Webb.

The top of my bar is original from the front to mid-way where you'll see a line across it. The medallions on the ceiling above the lights are original as is the one red oil lamp which is lit every New Year's Eve. The electric lamps are also original to the bar and were oil but converted to electricity at the turn of the century. I'm kept warm in winter by the woodstove, and since it's the only source of heat, the locals often bring in firewood when I'm getting low. And, no, those are not blood stains you see on the ceiling (it's tomato juice) while there have been many rough and tumbles here, no one was ever killed. And yes, we grow our own cobwebs here too....

Many famous people have visited over the years. Among them, Mark Twain when he first reported for the Territorial Enterprise which opened in Genoa before moving to Virginia City. Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt* enjoyed “cool ones”, perhaps right where you're standing. Carol Lombard and Clark Gable came here to play high stakes poker games with the local cattle barons. Among the other famous and infamous, Lauren Bacall, Richard Boone, Ronnie Howard, Red Skelton, Cliff Robertson and all of our Nevada Governors have come through my doors.

When Raquel Welch visited us, she was asked to leave her bra. She agreed but insisted that all the other bras be taken down -and they were! Her's is the black leopard print hanging on the antlers though it's so dusty now, you can't really tell. It wouldn't be right to exclude anyone, so I take lingere "donations" kept in the old safe. Go ahead and peek, but remember, the custom is: if you open the door to the safe, a donation is required!

A number of movies have been filmed here including "The Shootist" with John Wayne, "Charley Varrick" with Walter Mathau and Joe Don Baker, "Honky Tonk Man" with Clint Eastwood, "Misery" with James Cann, Kathy Bates, Rob Reiner and Richard Farnsworth, and most recently, (last summer) "Till the River Runs Dry" starring Ann-Margaret....

Musicians seem to gravitate here. I've welcomed Willie Nelson, Charlie Daniels, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Slim Pickens, John Denver, and the Captain and Tennille to name just a few.'

genoabarandsaloon.com

*Footnote: The Grant and Teddy Roosevelt visits appear to be unlikely.

'Despite having owned the place for the better part of two decades, [Willie] Webb says it’s difficult to grasp how deep the history runs at the Genoa Bar. “A few years back a woman came into the bar in her Sunday best. She had to be over 90, so she of course stood out a bit,” Webb recalled. Eventually, the woman called Webb over and said, “My name is Abigail, I worked here when I was 16.” Instantly fascinated, Webb immediately began to do the math, calculating when she must’ve worked at the saloon, and finally asked what it was that she did there. “And in her little old lady Grandma voice, she says, ‘I was a prostitute!” Webb laughed. “I couldn’t believe it! She told me that they used to take men out back to a bar that no longer exists, with bathtub gin they used to distill in the basement. There weren’t any beds, so it was a literal roll in the hay,” Webb joked.'

travelnevada.com

2282 Main St, Genoa, NV 89411 - (775) 782-3870
Est. as Genoa: ? - First established as a bar: 1853 - Building constructed: 1853 
Previous bars in this location: Livingston's Exchange, Fettic's Exchange 
Web site: genoabarandsaloon - facebook 
Articles ranked: travelnevada - national trust for historic preservation - onlyinyourstate - thesheetnews - tahoesouth (video) - historical marker database - mynews4 - knpr - sierranevadageotourism - swingu - tripadvisor - travelnevada 

#3600 - Bux's Place, Challis, ID - 8/20/2018

Bux's Place, Challis, ID

When I first found a photo of the sign outside of Bux's Place I knew I had to go there. It obviously had some age and character, but I wouldn't know how much until I visited. The bar has been Bux's since 1949, owned by Willis and Sylvilla Buxton until they sold it to Tony and Madge Yacomella in 1981. The sign had just gone up the previous year, but the bar has been there far, far longer. Once you step inside you clearly see the rounded log structure of the place, though the clapboard and shiplap facade is also original, dating back to the Central Hotel, constructed in 1877. The back section was added in 1879 and the current window treatment in front is said to date back "only" to the 1930s. (IHS) 

It is, in fact, the only commercial log structure that has survived since the 1880s in this old mining town -- there for the boom times of the late 1870s, surviving the fire of 1894, and also the earthquake of 1983. Challis's current population of around 1,000 people is actually not all that different from the mining boom years, reaching 614 in 1880, dying out with the mining, but climbing back up over 800 in the 1930s as the economy shifted to agriculture and lumber. It's enough people to make it the largest city in Custer County, Idaho, and in one site's rankings placed 9th in the 10 Most Redneck Cities in Idaho -- with Bux's being all the article talks about. But if so, I'll take it. The beer was cold and the people friendly.

The Idaho historical society has described the surroundings thusly:

"The town of Challls lies at an elevation of 5,280 feet in Round Valley, a circular yalley formed by a bend of the Salmon River as it flows through the southern Salmon River Mountains. To the north the town abuts a bluff of volcanic tuff and columnar rhyolite. U.S. Highway 93, which connects Mackay and Salmon, runs near the eastern edge of town. To the west the valley narrows into Garden Creek Canyon, where cottonwoods are abundant. North, west, east, and south, the valley is surrounded by the rugged, pine-skirted Salmon River Mountains and Lost River Mountains. In this physically isolated and sparsely populated area, the town of Challis grew up as a trade center for mines farther north and west in the central Idaho mountains." (IHS)

Patrons Suzie and Crockett, owner Madge
Bux's Place, Challis, Idaho

The first Europeans, appear to have passed through the area in fur trading expeditions in 1822, with prospectors beginning to arrive in 1864. "The settlers who had come to Challis by 1880 were a predominantly Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern-born group, but a substantial number were immigrants from England, Ireland, and Western Europe. There were, in addition, eight Chinese households. As one would expect, men outnumbered women five to one, and there were few children. Slightly less than half of the population were miners; the remainder were occupied with services and trades necessary for the subsistence of Challis and the surrounding mining towns." (wikiwand)

The Yacomella family still own and run Bux's, Tony and Madge's son Bill the manager, and Madge still pouring drinks when I was there. The large space serves as an unofficial community center for Challis, hosting birthday parties, memorials, and weddings -- with limited gambling events that would be a lot more common, I was informed, "if not for the goddamn Mormons." The "Testicle Festival" celebrating "Rocky Mountain Oysters" is a highlight. Madge is said to be "the true matriarch of Challis" (SVM), and as people relate past hijinks of people riding horses and motorcycles into the bar "There is a general acknowledgement that such tomfoolery doesn’t occur when Madge is around."

The interior is highlighted by ancient murals of mountain scenes on the upper walls, old taxidermy big game heads and antlers, a wood stove, and the aforementioned friendly people. Another highlight is the beautifully ornate, antique Brunswick back bar. It is both living history and a charming place to visit, not to be missed in any central Idaho roadtrip.

321 Main St, Challis, ID 83226 - (208) 879-4464
Est. 1949 - Building constructed: 1877
Previous bars in this location: Central Hotel Saloon, Challis Hotel Saloon
Web site: facebook 
Articles: sunvalleymag - yelp - wikipedia - national historical places description 

The Eastlake Zoo

(Note: This is a post on one of the more interesting bars that I first went to long ago and was on my starting list, and hence hasn't had its own blog entry at the time.)

Eastlake Zoo Tavern, Seattle, WA
Est. 1974

The University of Washington campus is framed by two epic neighborhood dive bars, the Blue Moon and the Eastlake Zoo. The former is the older establishment, and has attracted more attention from the local literati. But both locations have hosted bars since shortly after prohibition, and both are living time capsules, that have preserved their considerable character for decades as the neighborhoods around them changed.

The Eastlake Zoo building, constructed in 1902, has hosted since at least early 1935, when the city directory lists a bar of unknown name owned by Max Hurwitz. (Hurwitz also owned the "Put & Take Tavern," before new owners renamed it the Latona Pub in the late 40s.) From the mid 30s to the mid 60s it hosted a string of eponymously named bars including "Joe's Place" (Joe Carroll) by 1936, "Tommie Wood's Tavern" (owned by, yes, Thomas Woods) by 1941, "Teel & Moffatt's Tavern" in 1944, "Jack's Tavern" by 1945, "Mack's Tavern" (Ivan "Mack" McKinnon) from 1948 to 1959, and "Hank's Tavern" owned by Henry Kourad by 1960 and preserving that name for a few years when it was owned by Thelma Brown and Maxine Hart, until Hart renamed it the "It'll Do Tavern" in either late 1965 or early 1966.

Howard Brown, owner, Eastlake Zoo Tavern
March 2021

Hart appears to have sold the It'll Do to Alf and Donna Schroeder, and in a couple years it exchanged hands to a group calling itself "Blue Moon Inc." I have not found any connections of this group to the Blue Moon Tavern, which at that time was owned by Gerry Kingen (along with a ramshackle tavern the edge of Portage Bay called the "Red Robin"). But Howard Brown says that the Blue Moon Inc. group included Clinton Worthington and Stan Paul at the time the "Eastlake Zoo" group purchased the place in 1974. The Zoo team (or "Ooz Bros" as they were known via their softball team and other extracurricular activities) was formed as a co-op, with a percentage ownership determined by how much one worked the place, and rotating roles like chief executive. They assumed the name of "ITC," the Intergalactic Tavern Co-op -- though the co-op part is less relevant now, with all the main members having passed away with the exception of Howard Brown.

Eastlake Zoo Tavern, Seattle, WA

Much of the group lived just down the hill from the bar, in the "hippie houseboat community," before the floating houses had plumbing and million dollar price tags. Howard didn't work there at the very start, but his roommate in a house across the street from the houseboats did, and Howard joined in 1978. In 1992 Howard and his wife, now with a child, moved, and Howard worked in construction while his wife worked for UPS. But after partner Mike "Seemore" Bennett passed away, the people left running the place gradually let the place slide, and handled the cash-only till with something less than total integrity. In 2007 Mike's brother Pat Bennett called Howard to help rescue the place, the two had a meeting with the landlord, and Howard was back on the job, firing undependable staff and cleaning up the business. He's been there most days ever since, even after Pat passed away.

Throughout all this, the Zoo has maintained its hippie-like, laid back but fun vibe and decor. It is one of a very few remaining true taverns -- no liquor, just beer and wine -- and only accepts an ancient form of payment known as "cash." The bar was expanded well beyond the confines of the It'll Do Tavern, with the added back section holding billiard tables, an official-sized snooker table (lit by a billiards lamp from the old 211 Club in downtown Seattle), Skee-Ball, ping pong table, shuffleboard and pinball machines, along with an elevated back portion looking down on the alley below. There's a dance floor and room for a band -- less common now, but one wall is covered with a sample of the the fliers for the regular schedule of years of the mostly blues and rock bands, and occasionally funk or metal, that got the place jumping. "Duffy Bishop & the Rhythm Dogs were repeating performers, and I remember a night when a friend of mine didn't allow the exuberant Duffy quite enough space on the dance floor, and as she popped her head up she accidentally broke his nose. It was the sort of bar where those things happened. (The same friend's injury was re-aggravated at the Zoo one night when I convinced him to climb head first into an antique Coke cooler.)

King Zoosaga, AKA Seemore, AKA Mike Bennett
owner, Eastlake Zoo Tavern, Seattle, WA

Things appear mysteriously at the Zoo. Any great old dive is lined with layers of bric-a-brac accreted in an undirected manner over many years, and the Zoo has these memories in spades. Sometimes they are carefully planned like the mural on a back wall, and sometimes they are only discovered the next morning, like the squirrel hide Howard found mounted on the wall, or the framed, hastily scrawled note observing "H.B. says it's not his fault." ("H.B." would be Howard.) There are memories of past owners, past patrons, and various past events -- like the Seattle Times article about Howard wining his 4th straight Pub Run, a once annual event that required racing between eight to thirteen bars (varying with the year) and pounding a 7-oz beer at every one of them. There are photos of the softball team, of an annual event in Marysville, of people dancing, singing, fighting, and just sitting. And then there are the "after-hours" photos where things really get weird. 

There are animal heads and horns and hides (tending to the more exotic than the aforementioned squirrel contribution). There's a giant photo of Basil Rathbone for some reason, and a red paper mache dragon with glowing eyes (sometimes you don't ask). There are dartboards surrounded by rope and wooden frames with the dart holes of thousands of errant throws over the decades. There are posters from past events, many of them done for the benefit of Northwest Harvest or other charities, including the annual events of  the "Guitar Outlaws" ensembles, chili cookoff, and mac-n-cheese smackdown. The Guitar Outlaws in particular is a venerated tradition, though tragically due to COVID, the December 2020 performance was canceled for this first time since 1991. The authors of its opus "The String Cycle" have compared it favorably to Wagner's Ring Cycle, and described it modestly as "the most important event of the 20th century." (Seattle Times, Oct 16, 1992).

In summary, the Eastlake Zoo, while casual, is so deep in character and characters, that if the phrase "great old dive" has any appeal to you, you must not live in or visit Seattle without at least occasionally dropping in.

For more photos please see Pete's Eastlake Zoo Flickr pics 

2301 Eastlake Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102
Est. 1974 - Building constructed: 1924 - Co-op founded in 1974
Previous bars in this location: Tommie Wood's Tavern, Teel and Moffatt's Tavern, Jack's Tavern, Mack's Tavern, Hank's Tavern, Joe's Place, It'll Do Tavern
Web site: facebook - eastlakezoo.com (2010 via wayback machine)
Articles Ranked: atlasobscura - seattlepi - seattlepi - seattleweekly - artzone (video) - seattle times re. guitar outlaws (Seattle library card required) - yelp - tripadvisor - thrillist 

#4049 - Jersey Lilly, Ingomar, MT - 7/18/2020

Jersey Lilly, Ingomar, MT

The unincorporated community of Ingomar Montana is down a short dirt road off of Highway 12 and appears like a ghost town -- abandoned buildings, trailer homes, horses and mules wandering freely down the dirt roads. Classic tumbleweeds bounce down the roads, and the promised bison are nowhere in evidence. Ingomar was put on the map by the Milwaukee Railroad in 1910. Local history has it that in the 1910s it was either the largest sheep shearing and wool shipping center in the world, or one of the largest in the country, depending on your source. In any case, it was booming, with 46 businesses, 2,500 homesteading filings per year, and 2 million pounds of wool shipping out each season -- the largest commercial hub between the Missouri, Musselshell, and Yellowstone rivers.

Boots Kope, owner, Jersey Lilly, Ingomar, MT

But by the end of that first decade, the boom had already started to fade, and after several years of too little rain, a fire that burned much of the town down in 1921 hastened the long running decline. The high school closed in 1952, the wool warehouse shuttered in 1975, and rail service ended in 1980. In 1992 the elementary school, which had a total of 3 students the previous year, ceased operations and the historic school building shuttered. With the railroad gone, there were no more shipments of water, until several years later a spring system was built and piped into town. The population dwindled down to single digits.

Jersey Lilly Saloon, Ingomar, Montana

The first brick building in the community was the Wiley, Clark, and Greening Bank, which opened in October 1914. That went under in 1921. At the end of prohibition, Clyde Easterday opened the Oasis Bar there (1933). Easterday brought in a cherry wood bar from St. Louis, up the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. (I presume this was a Brunswick, but have not been able to confirm this.) The bar remains to this day. In 1948 Bob Seward, who had been a Rosebud County deputy sheriff, came into possession of the bar -- either by simply purchasing it or, as histories say, winning it in a poker game. Seward, a Texan, renamed it the "Jersey Lilly," after the famous saloon of Judge Roy Bean in his home state. He also introduced the signature bean soup that is a favorite to this day. Also remaining to this day are the outdoor outhouses -- the only public facilities in town, helpfully marked "Bull Pen" and "Heifer Pen," and with a slanted tin "cowboy rain gutter urinal" hanging inside the former. Back inside, under the pressed tin ceiling, the walls are lined with memorabilia and animal heads -- deer, antelope, elk, a moose, a buffalo, and, of course, a jackelope.

Ten years later, Bob turned the bar over to his son Bill, who had been a professional boxer in Chicago, winning 45 fights with 38 knockouts between 1939 and 1941 (hence the boxing memorabilia still in the bar today). Bill also opened up the dance hall portion, lining the walls around a wood burning furnace with wood from and old barn, a space which between the occasional dances and special events serves as additional dining space, with folding chairs and tables. Bill was a popular character, known as the unofficial mayor of Ingomar, and created the Lilly's other famous dish, it's "sheepherders' hors d'oeuvres," comprising saltines, onions, orange slices, and cheddar cheese. "You stick it in your mouth one bite, just like an old hound dog eating hot cakes," Seward explained. (atlasobscura).

Sheepherder's Hors d'Oeuvres, Jersey Lilly, MT

In 1995, Bill finally sold the bar to Jerry Brown, who'd been telling him on their hunting trips for many years that he would like to own the place. Brown was a burial vault magnate, who'd made a good living manufacturing and installing "concrete outer internment receptacles" in Milwaukee and elsewhere, in addition to owning livestock. In 2004, Boots Kope and June Nygren met at the bar, and where later married. Like the several previous owners of the place, Kope and Nygren valued the community center role of the bar, now the only remaining business in Ingomar. When they saw it starting to decline, they purchased the place themselves in 2010, and have run it ever since, most of the time with only the two of them, taking off only one or two weeks a year for vacation.

Ingomar, Montana

When I rolled up to the Jersey Lilly, the place was closed, with no vehicles in sight. There was a note in the window about how it would open late that day. I later learned this was due to a long drive to resupply the oranges for the sheepherders' hors d'oeuvres. I also learned that it was unwise to go to the Lilly without a reservation, and I was fortunate that they could slip in one extra if I was okay sitting at the bar (I am very much okay sitting at the bar). Boots brought me out a serving of their iconic appetizer, and explained as he no doubt has many hundreds of times that I should try them even if I don't like onions, as the oranges combine in an unexpected taste. He was right, of course.

Bull Pen and Heifer Pen outhouses at 
Jersey Lilly Saloon, Ingomar, MT

I had a good, local beef burger and fried potatoes, wandered the place taking pictures and reading the many newspaper clippings on the walls, returning to the bar to chat with Kope as June worked the kitchen. I felt fortunate to get in, and even more fortunate that people like Boots and June were around to preserve this great place. They have steady business from around the world -- there are precious few people living nearby and their guest book contains visitors from Switzerland, Mongolia, Germany, China, Tanzania, and many, many other far flung places from around the world and across the U.S. And yet the future of the Jersey Lilly is uncertain. The couple has had the place for sale for some time now, not due to lack of business, but from a desire to move closer to their kids and grandkids. They want very much to sell it to someone who will preserve and carry on the cherished traditions, but admit that eventually, if no buyer is found, they will simply shut it down. This would be sad indeed, so if you get a chance to go, you must take it (and make sure to call for a reservation!).

Est. 1948 - Building constructed: 1914
Previous bars in this location: The Oasis (1933-1948)
Web site: facebook - facebook 
Reviews: billingsgazette - atlasobscura - greatfallstribune - montana-mint - missoulian.com - onlyinyourstate - yelp - tripadvisor - visitmt  

#4064 - Mint Bar, Sheridan, WY - 7/20/2020

Mint Bar, Sheridan, WY

One of my very favorite bars on my 2020 road trip of Wyoming, Montana, and beyond, and one of my favorite bars, period, is the Mint Bar in Sheridan, WY. You start with the great neon sign out front, a cowboy riding  bucking bronco, over the brands of local ranchers. Stepping inside you find a wonderland of gleaming knotted and burled pine over cedar shingles and surrounding sizable collections of taxidermy and historical photos.

And the Mint does indeed have a rich history. The Mint Saloon was constructed and opened on Main Street in the small western city of Sheridan (population under 20,000) in 1907. A few years after national prohibition shut it down in 1919, it reopened officially as the Mint Cigar Company and Soda Shop," while unofficially hosting liquor sales and gambling in an expanded area added to the back. It closed again in 1930, and subsequently hosted a series of offices until federal prohibition was repealed in 1933. (sah-archipedia.org) 

Mint Bar, Sheridan, WY

The decor one sees today traces mostly back to the 1940s, with the gnarled pine burl framing knotty pine pine paneling and lots of local taxidermy (including a jackalope, of course), along with several animals from the owner's hunting trip in the Yukon in the 1950s. Under the pressed tin ceiling, the cedar shakes are said to feature 9,000 brands from local ranches. The drinks are fairly standard, with some nice local beer and whiskey choices, the staff is cool and friendly, and the crowd is a pleasant mix of young and old, locals and tourists. From the building itself and the postings on their facebook page, the owners and patrons both clearly value the deep and continuing history of the place, and it is a must stop for anyone near northern central Wyoming.

The Mint Saloon, 1908
(Photo from bar's Facebook page)

The Mint Bar, 1936
(Photo from bar's Facebook page)

The Mint Bar, 1941
(Photo from bar's Facebook page)

Est. 1907 - Building constructed: 1907
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: mintbarwyo.com - facebook 
Articles ranked: SAH archipedia - savingplaces.org - travelwyoming.com - onlyinyourstate.com - yelp - tripadvisor - sheridanwyoming.org