#1760 - Mestizo Sedro-Woolley, WA - 4/21/2012

Raul and Norma Guitron's Mestizo Mexican Family Restaurant not only replaces a previous Mexican restaurant in this location, but also incorporates a historic Sedro-Woolley bar space. "This is most likely the oldest building in Skagit County that has always been dedicated to serving liquor." (SRJ) The current structure was built in 1910, but there has been a bar at this location since the early 1890s. This was eventually named The Klondike, and "became the central drinking place for the wild and woolly town around it and the loggers who came down from upriver camps on the weekends, with money burning in their pockets and ready to dance with the girls who lived at the hotel." (Ibid)

The space was named the Wilson Saloon when the current structure was built in 1910, part of the greater Wixson Hotel. During prohibition it was converted to a pool hall (at least ostensibly) and renamed the Wixson Club (listed at 615 Metcalf). In the 70s and 80s it was renamed the Red Dog, and in the 1990s became The Schooner, which went out of business in 2009. Mestizo is a large place offering fairly standard American Mexican food (think Azteca). They have preserved the grand, 100-year-old, hand-carved back bar, where they now serve massive magaritas. I am not certain of this, but the other portion of the building that now comprises Mestizo may have once been the old Whoopey Noodle Chinese noodle house, rumored to have housed prostitutes and bootleggers catering to the local miners, lumbermen, and steelworkers.

Sedro-Woolley is now a struggling small town, but maintains a good number of bars, supported by people who live in the area but usually commute to elsewhere to work, as well as to buy goods and groceries. Local jobs declined dramatically in the 1970s with the closure of the the sawmills, Skagit Steel, and "the Bughouse" -- Northern State Hospital for the Insane. The towns of Sedro and Woolley were merged and incorporated in 1898, and the area has a rich history of saloons dating back well into the 19th century. The wives of Sedro had persuaded founder Mortimer Cook to change the name from the original "Bug," inspired by the quantity of mosquitoes.  The company town of Woolley had formed around Phillip Woolley's sawmill. Nowadays, the town dresses itself up for outsiders, with various murals and dozens of chainsaw carvings from the big Loggerodeo annual 4th of July celebration. At least for fans of old bars, it remains a very attractive little town.
 

617 Metcalf Street, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284 - (360) 855-1300
Est. 2009 - Building constructed: 1910
Previous bars in this location: The Klondike Saloon (previous building), The Wilson Saloon  (1910-?), The Wixson Club Tavern (1960s), Red Dog Tavern (1970s-1980s), The Schooner (1990s-2009)
yelp 
Skagit River Jounal

#1759 - The Overflow, Sedro-Woolley, WA - 4/21/2012

The Overflow is a classic redneck dive bar, generally pleasant for dive bar fans, if sometimes a bit rough around the edges. When I stepped out into the early afternoon sun shining on the back patio, the first thing I heard was a fellow named Dave explaining that "I'm not trying to be an asshole." One wonders what he might be like if he were actually trying, as he then addressed a fellow patron with an angry, "Bruce, you pimple dick fuck!" Bruce opined unhappily something to the effect that the assessment as a pimple dick fuck was in error, and after some posturing and separation of the two, a woman lectured Dave for breaking a promise he had apparently made earlier about not being rude. In defense of his behavior, Dave repeatedly explicated his hypothesis that Bruce is a pimple dick fag fuck, but the two were repaired to different portions of the bar with no manifest resolution of the matter.

The bar appears to have been around since at least the 1940s. It is listed as "Starky's Tavern" in the 1948 Polk Guide. Noel Bourasaw notes, "That Ferry Street location was called the Four Aces for 50 years until Gloria Jean Meiers changed the name in the mid-1990s. She closed the tavern for a couple of years and her sons, the Meiers brothers, reopened it as a cocktail lounge in 2004."
 
In any case, the Overflow is a fairly fun place to stop in for a beer or simple cocktail. Just watch out for Dave.

109 Ferry St, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284 - (360) 855-9080 
Est. 2004         
Previous bars in this location: Starky's Tavern, Four Aces Tavern, Gloria Jean's

#1758 - Old Edison Inn, Edison, WA - 4/21/2012

I generally date the age of bars by their time in their current locations, but if you include times they have moved, the Old Edison Inn is one of the oldest in the state.  They have been in their current location only about 20 years, but their liquor license dates back to 1934, and they are said to have been established in 1900. I do not know if they were a bar that far back, but they are also said to be the only one of four Edison saloons to have survived prohibition.

Nowadays it is a bit more sedate and family-oriented than the Longhorn up the road, and has a menu featuring Pacific oysters from Samish Bay, burgers, sandwiches, and steaks.  They have a pretty good selection of beers, and live music on Saturdays and Sundays, which draws a fairly large crowd, some from some fairly long distances.  While we were there on a lazy afternoon, a lanky local slipped over to the upright piano and started banging out some great boogie woogie tunes, (The local turned out to be bluesman Daddy Treetops, whom I've enjoyed a few times in Seattle.) The two bars give Edison an unusually rocking scene for such a tiny town.

5829 Cains Ct, Edison, WA 98232 - (360) 766-6266
Est. 1934
Web site: theedisoninn.com - facebook  
Reviews: urbanspoon - yelp - video

#1757 - Longhorn Saloon & Grill, Edison, WA - 4/21/2012

The Longhorn Saloon and Oyster Grill is the happenin' place in Edison, WA. It caters to a younger crowd and bikers, with live music, sexy servers, a fairly good choice of beers, and pretty good bar food. It is known for its oysters and ribs, I am told.

5754 Cains Ct, Edison, WA 98232 - (360) 766-6330
web site: facebook 
Reviews: tuesdaysburger - northwestplaces - yelp

#1756 - Corner Pub, Bow, WA - 4/21/2012

While driving between Skagit Valley tulip farms, across the fields of the old flood plains of Samish Bay, we suddenly came upon the Corner Pub. The pub is on the outskirts of Bow, Washington, a virtually non-existent town that once hosted a thriving sawmill community and railroad station. Bow, then "Brownsville," grew up around the sawmill built by William Brown, in a location that once hosted a village that the natives called "Noo-wha-ah." They would  reach the village by canoeing the various rivulets of the old salt chuck, which were later merged by the whites to facilitate water transportation, and called the Samish River and later Edison Slough.

After the railroad station closed, the timber supply declined, dikes organized the water flow, and highway and road changes removed all but a trickle of transit from Bow, the area has become a more spread-out community of farms. The Corner Pub/Tavern is a friendly neighborhood bar which has been around a surprisingly long time and originally seated 10 people. It was constructed in 1928 and became a bar shortly after prohibition. Locals welcome you to share a table, chat over baskets of peanuts, and toss the shells on the floor. We stopped there largely because we thought it doubtful that we'd ever be quite out this way again, but we were glad we did.


14565 Allen West Road Bow, WA 98232 - (360) 757-6113
Est. 1934? - Building constructed: 1928
History sources: Skagit River Journal - Ray Jordan, Noel V. Bourasaw

#1755 - Leatherheads Pub, Stanwood, WA - 4/28/2012

 This is cozy, two-story brewpub is half firefighter museum.  It is run by some ex-firefighters out of a 1929 Spanish-style building, moved to its current location in the 1950s and serving as the West Stanwood Volunteer Fire Department until 1963. It serves fairly typical modern brewpub food and beers.

10209 270th Street Stanwood, WA 98292 - (360) 629-5555
Est. 2009 - Building constructed: 1929

Web site: leatherheadspub.com - facebook  
Reviews: heraldnet - heraldnet - yelp - urbanspoon

#1754 - Conway Pub, Conway, WA - 4/21/2012

The Conway Pub & Eatery -- referred to as the "Conway Tavern" by almost everybody -- is a big, fun place in the middle of nowhere, except that it's a small ways off Interstate 5. Like many fun bars in the middle of nowhere, it caters to bikers, but also has a mix of little old ladies viewing the tulips, kids, locals, and more.  It is in the lower part of a barn-like legionnaires hall, with a large "oyster garden" patio outside.  Knut Bell often plays there.

The Conway has a decent beer selection and serves basic bar food, though it's known for its pan-fried oysters (I am incapable of eating/judging oysters). It is said to have been established in 1932, though I do not know how soon after prohibition ended that it started as a bar. It is the lively mix of people that will likely bring you back.

18611 Main St, Conway, WA 98273 - (360) 445-4733       
Est. 1932

Web site: conwaypub.com - facebook - KAPS youtube
Reviews: link - tripadvisor - yelp - urbanspoon