#2191 - Kuk's Tavern, Northport, WA - 5/25/2013

In the early evening of Friday, May 25, 2013, we rolled up to our road trip's most prominent destination. In Northport. WA, on the south bank the Columbia, about 7 miles south of the Canadian border, is Kuk's Tavern, one of the very oldest operating bar locations in the state of Washington. Long gone are the rollicking boom-town days when miners poured into the area seeking placer gold, and the LeRoi Smelter operation covered 30 acres, baking gold, silver, copper and lead ores and pouring slag into the river. The mining rush started with some strikes on Red Mountain in 1890, and by 1892 the first railroad train pulled in, tugging a flatcar with a post office and saloon on it.

The boom continued as the U.S. government opened the northern part of the Colville Indian reservation to miners in 1896. The Colvilles were several groups of nomadic peoples in the region before being grouped under the name from Fort Colville and subjected to the not atypical series of broken treaties, shrinking reservations, and diminished rights. The European population of Northport approached 2,000 in the 1890s and it became known as one of the rowdiest mining camps in the state. The growth was sustained through floods and two large fires that destroyed most of the town in 1893 and 1898. But later, with the smelter's business falling off with declining ore supplies and labor conflicts, when the largest of all fires struck on July 29, 1914, the Northport boom times were over for good.

Northport today is a pleasant, tiny town, hanging on with various old structures and vestiges of the past, but without the overwhelmingly touristy preciousness of a Winthrop or Leavenworth. According to a historical plaque featured on Kuk's Facebook page, the building hosting Kuk's was constructed in 1888 and started then as a saloon and brothel, apparently called "Skrobian's". An 1898 photo in "Gold Creeks and Ghost Towns of Northeastern Washington" shows what appears to be the same building under the sign of the Silver Crown Hotel. In 1902 the building was moved on logs to its current location in order to be safer from floods. It was later named "Fred's Pool Hall" by Fred Skrobian, and became "Kuk's" at some point under ownership of Marion Kukuk. This old but undated photo purportedly includes Kuk's Pool Hall.

Kuk's claims to be the "oldest continuous and licensed tavern" in the state. I'm not positive of the particular basis for this claim, but if they have been continuously licensed (with the exception of prohibition) since it started as a saloon in 1888 or 1889, then it would appear that the only potential competitors to that claim would be the Oak Harbor Tavern or Bickleton's Bluebird Inn. I do not know how long either of these two bars has been continuously licensed, but from my investigations they appear to be the only currently operating bar locations to pre-date the Kuk's building.

Kuk's today is a mixture of museum and small town dive bar. Female mannequins gazing out of the upper floor windows remind visitors of the bordello days. Vintage photos and sawblades painted with wildlife scenes mix with souvenir baseball caps and Budweiser girl posters. Local birthdays are listed on a whiteboard, and Taco Tuesdays at Kuk's ($1 for 2 tacos) are a community event listed on the Chamber of Commerce calendar. They have shuffleboard, darts, and pulltabs, and a few references to "Kuk's Tavern Bowling and Disco," which appear to be references to a broken down bowling game, a juke box, and small mirror ball.  In addition to Taco Tuesdays they have a few snacks, burgers and pizzas, and offer a small selection of spirits and beers. Despite the limited food and drink options, the unique ambiance and the historical small town make Kuk's well worth a drive across the state to me.

400 Summit Ave, Northport, WA 99157 - (509) 732-4443
Est. as Kuk's: ? - Building constructed: 1888
Previous bars in this location: Skobrian's, Fred's Pool Hall
Reviews: boundarysentinel - skibumlife - yelp - northportproject

#2190 - Acorn Saloon and Feeding Station, Colville, WA - 5/25/2013

Acorn Saloon and Feeding Station, Colville, WA

The Acorn Saloon and Feeding Station was established here in 1986 by John and Jeannie Acorn. It was previously "Harold's" and I was informed it had been a bar for approximately 40 years. It started as a confectionary in 1903 and may have been both Faugsteed's Star Restaurant and Faugsteed's Palace Theater in the early parts of the 20th century. The Acorns have modeled it into an imitation of an upscale, pre-prohibition drinking parlor, with antique oak tables "from Europe," an 1880s cherry wood bar from the Barbary Coast, an antique nude painting from "one of Portland's oldest bars in the bad part of town," and various other old timey items. The food and drinks are middle American staples -- burgers and sandwiches, inexpensive steaks and seafood, etc., with standard cocktails, wine, and beer options.

Acorn Saloon and Feeding Station, Colville, WA

Acorn Saloon and Feeding Station, Colville, WA

262 S Main St, Colville, WA 99114 - (509) 684-3337
Est. 1986 - Building constructed: 1903
Previous bars in this location: Harold's
Web site: acornsaloon.com - facebook  
Reviews: yelp - urbanspoon

#2189 - 5th Avenue Bar and Grill, Metaline Falls, WA - 5/25/2013

5th Avenue Bar & Grill, Metaline Falls, WA

The 5th Avenue is placid little small town cafe and bar -- the sort of place where, after making a really minor error on one of our burgers, the gave us free pie to make up for the mistake. Along with the fairly standard small town diner food and drinks, we enjoyed a chat with regular customer Markku, whom everyone in town just calls "Swede." Markku was born in Finland and raised in Sweden, and as a young man joined the merchant marine as a cook to see the world, living mostly in Australia. When we asked him what brought him to this area, he told us "a mistaken decision" -- which turned out to be a girl in Aberdeen. Markku is retired now and lives within a short walk of the bar. He told us that it was a town scandal when the bar raised the drink of cocktails from $2.50 to $3.50. He thought Trista was pulling his leg when she told him how much she pays for cocktails in Belltown.

People have been living in the Metaline Falls area for at least 8,000 to 11,000 years ago, with the Kalispel tribe there when Europeans first started to arrive in the early 1800s. The exposed minerals led the Europeans to call the place "metalines," and they eventually established the town of Metaline on the western bank of the Pend Oreille River in 1859, and Metaline Falls on the east bank in 1911. Gold was discovered in the area in the 1850s, then mining interests turned to lead and zinc, which sustained the area in the 1970s. Today the population of Metaline Falls is down to around 200 people, largely supported by hunting, fishing, and other tourist and outdoor activities. The town is just 13 miles south of the Canadian border, and if you check out Gardner Cave, the limestone cavern named for the bootlegger who discovered and hid his product there, it's a short walk to the border.  (Historylink)

Hoogy's Steakhouse, Metaline, WA
It's not so easy to find current information online for some
of these small towns, and Trista was much amused when we
drove up to this place in Metaline where I planned to have dinner.

Trail to Canada near Gardner Cave

Gardner Cave, just north of Metaline Falls, WA

214 E 5th Ave, Metaline Falls, WA 99153 - (509) 446-4234
Est. 2011
Previous bars in this location: Heidi's
Web site: facebook
Reviews: roadtrippers - yelp - tripadvisor

#2188 - Boots and Saddles Saloon, Ione, WA - 5/25/2013

Boots & Saddles Saloon, Ione, WA

Stepping into this bar feels like stepping into an old west poker game waiting to happen. The Boots & Saddles is very evidently a very old bar, with great, old, uneven, wooden floors, old taxidermy heads on aging wood walls, wood burning stove, etc. The bartender there told me that it has been named the Boots and Saddles since 1978 (I believe this was when it was purchased by long time owner Torivio "Tory" Mendoza, who passed away in Dec 2010) and that it has housed a bar back to 1908. I have not found any primary sources to help confirm those dates, but the information I have on Ione is very limited (the three bars listed in Ione in the 1913 Stevens County Polk Guide do not include addresses).

Boots & Saddles Saloon, Ione, WA

In any case, today the bar is a bit larger than one expects from the exterior and regardless of how old the place really is, it wears its old west saloon feel effortlessly and unaffectedly. It has the typical dive bar options in drinks and decor, but the beer corporation paraphernalia and NASCAR posters are mixed in with old hunting trophies and vestiges of decades of personality and personalities. I recommend a stop here if you're ever in this area near the northeast corner of the state.

Main St, Ione, WA 99139  - Phone: (509) 442-3115
Est. 1978

#2187 - Loon Lake Saloon & Grill, Loon Lake, WA - 5/25/2013

A nice stop along WA-292, just off 395, about 30 miles north of Spokane. I think I was fortunate enough to catch the town grump ("I told 'em six pack of this don't cost any goddamn more than that stuff they want $3.50 for ...")

3996 Washington 292, Loon Lake, WA 99148 - (509) 233-2738

#2186 - Constantine's Alibi Pub and Eatery, Wilbur, WA - 5/24/2013

Constantine's Alibi Pub and Eatery (AKA the Alibi Tavern) is now the only bar in town. You can see that times have been tough as you walk down Main Street, past the long-shuttered Boyd's Place, with the American flag logo in the old 1902 VFW Hall, and past the graying teddy bear face on the sign for Sarah's Restaurant and Lounge. The town of Wilbur sites northeast of Goose Creek, with both the town and creek named after "Wild Goose Bill" Condon, whose ranch basically founded the town. The story goes that town officials were planning to name the place "Goose Town," when Nannie Robertson, the wife of the town blacksmith, declared she would refuse to live in a town with such a name, and it was eventually decided to use Wild Goose Bill's middle name.

Wild Goose Bill married and divorced two of the local native American women, including one known as "Lop-eared Julia" due to her ears that had been mutilated by her tribe as punishment for sexual improprieties. Condon lost his life in January 1895, in a gunfight that erupted after he responded to Millie Dunn's refusal of his marriage proposal by shooting her, whereupon a ranch hand there to protect her engaged him in gunfire, with both men dying. Nowadays, Wilbur celebrates Wild Goose Bill Days annual on the third weekend in May, which includes the "Wild Goose Chase" run. (Spokesman Review)

At the Alibi we chatted with bartender Alan, who in addition to being a pretty cool guy is the son of the woman who runs the Willows Motel up the road where we were staying. Alan said there's been a bar in the location since the 1940s, and that the physical back bar dates back to the 1880s.  We were informed by locals that the Alibi is a good place to eat, but on this stop we were only stopping in for a drink before heading back to the motel and then back on the road the next morning. But if we're back this way we will be stopping in.

Wilbur, WA (Wild Goose Bill?)

4 SW Main, Wilbur, WA 99185 - (509) 647-2649                 
Est. 1995
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp - spokesman.com (Wild Goose Bill)

#2185 - Electric City Bar & Grill, Electric City, WA - 5/24/2013

In pretty much every way that the Coulee Dam Casino is lifeless and lacking in character, the Electric City Bar and Grill, just four and half miles down Highway 156, is the exact opposite. The Electric City bar is full of people laughing and engaging each other, in a setting that is uniquely defined by the owners and customers. It is vibrantly colored, with a fire pit and large patio on the side, and inside the ceiling is filled with tiles personalized by long-time customers. The food and drink choices look pretty standard, but the vibe and crowd make it one of the better bar stops in the area.

2 Coulee Blvd, Electric City, WA 99123 - (509) 633-2221
Web site: tripod
Reviews: tripadvisor