#2202 - The Hobnobber, Burien - 6/2/2013

This is a vintage dive which the current owner, Jack, has run since 1974. There is Witco on the walls, beer and wine only behind the counter, and the entire place looks like it's barely changed since it was built in 1967.

447 SW 153rd St, Burien, WA 98166 - (206) 433-9987                
Building constructed: 1967
Previous bars in this location: None known
Reviews: yelp - seattleweekly

#2201 - Mark, Burien, WA - 6/2/2013

This is a pleasant setting in old Burien, particularly on nice days. But the food and drinks are fairly pedestrian.

918 SW 152nd St, Burien, WA 98166 - (206) 241-6275
Est. 2006 - Building constructed: 1951
Web site: markrestaurant.com - facebook
Reviews: seattlebloggers - yelp - urbanspoon

#2200 #S1146 - Club 1Hundred, Seattle - 6/2/2013

These folks took their small bar in downtown Bellevue and moved it into the large space that previously housed the notorious Citrus. On the plus side, there do not seem to be shootings outside. But on the downside, there doesn't seem to be much of anyone inside.

1001 Fairview Ave N #2000, Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 402-6364
Est. May 24, 2013 - Building constructed: 1978 - Closed 2014
Previous bars in this location: Citrus
Web site: 1hundredbistro.com - facebook
Reviews: eater - yelp - urbanspoon

#2199 #S1145 - A Terrible Beauty (SLU), Seattle - 6/2/2013

For a city with so much waterfront, Seattle does not really have that many great waterfront restaurant locations. But this former space of BluWater Bistro is one of the better ones, and surprisingly open on weekend afternoons, when the Amazonians are at home and before the evening crowds arrive. It's now home to the third instance of Irish-born Jenna Shannon Garvey and Paddy O'Brien's Irish restaurants named for a Yeats poem about Ireland's Easter Rebellion. These are the classic, woody, antique-filled, large Irish pubs, featuring a large selection of beers, a fairly sizable menu of fairly average pub food, and standard spirits.

1001 Fairview Avenue North #1700, Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 420-4498
Est. 2012 - Building constructed: 1978
Previous bars in this location: Bluwater Bistro
Web site: aterriblebeauty.com - facebook
Reviews: thrillist - yelp - urbanspoon

#2198 - Entiat Log Cabin, Entiat, WA - 5/27/2013

Entiat Log Cabin, Entiat, WA

The town of Entiat, hugging the Columbia River at the eastern base of the Cascade Mountains, where big horn sheep often startle drivers on Highway 97, is in its third location. The first Entiat burned down in 1913, whereupon they relocated near the railroad line built the following year.  The second time they got a little more warning, and moved a few select buildings before the Rocky Reach dam inundated the area in 1962. Both in the middle and on the edge of Entiat, which has two larger portions squeezing into a narrow section in between, is the Entiat Log Cabin.

Entiat Log Cabin, Entiat, WA

The Log Cabin is a fairly large place, ordinary looking on the outside, but with a nice, log cabin lodge decor inside. It is split in half by a family restaurant side and a bar side, with taxidermy heads and wagon wheel chandeliers, and somehow seems twice as large from the inside. It serves a wide selection of bottled beers (99 of them, according to the sign), and a fairly typical pub menu of prime rib, pizza, and burgers. It hosts a combination of locals and tourists seeking the many nearby outdoor recreation options. We had a funny and friendly chat with customers Kirk and Lisa during our visit.

Entiat, WA

Entiat Log Cabin, Entiat, WA

Mysteriously entombed urinal in the men's
room of the Entiat Log Cabin

14481 U.S. 97 Alt, Entiat, WA 98822 - (509) 784-2156                   
Est. 2004 - Building constructed: 1960
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp - tripadvisor

#2197 - Town Bar and Grill, Mansfield, WA - 5/27/2013

Town Bar and Grill, Mandfield, WA

The folks at the Town Bar and Grill said that the place was established in 1902, and one person told me that it was previously called the Town Tavern (or Town Tav) and that this had been the name all the way back to its founding. But I have not been able to find any historical information to confirm this, and there are reasons to be suspicious. 1902 would have pre-dated the railroad and the boom days, as well as a couple devastating fires. Further, Douglas County tax records indicate that the current building was constructed in 1910, and by that year Douglas County had voted itself completely dry.

Perhaps there was a saloon in this location that preceded the current building and country prohibition, or perhaps it was the "Town" buffet or cafe or something or other at the time and through prohibition.  At minimum it appears to be a very old bar, like the stacks of large boulders that dot the surrounding grain fields. The bar portion, which has a quite old back bar, offers typical neighborhood dive drink options, but at least during the day the feel of the entire place is more like a friendly care. The people there are nice, although they were apparently looking to move on when we visited, as a boy on tricycle out front greeted us by asking if we were going to buy the place from his grandmother.

Adam F., a volunteer with the mansfieldwashington.org site, informed me of some of the more recent history, noting that "... in the early 1980-90's it was owned by life long residents Gene and Lydia Goll. At that time it was known as the Town Tav.... In the mid to late 90's, they sold it to a couple by the name of Lonnie and Jody (do not know their last names) who then changed the name to the "Town Bar and Grill". Lonnie and Jody owned it for a few years before they sold it and moved to Roslyn, where they owned another small bar. Dave and Tammy Angus purchased it from Lonnie and Jody, and in the mid 2000's, Dave and Tammy sold it to the current owners, Gerald and Lynn Poole."

Mansfield, Wash

Reserving the Rigt - Town Tavern, Mansfield, WA

Back bar label, Town Tavern, Mansfield, WA

34 Main St, Mansfield, WA 98830 - (509) 683-1921
Est. ? - Building constructed: 1910

#2196 - The Shorthorn Tavern, Omak, WA - 5/27/2013

Omak Washington, named for the Salishan Indian term "Omache" ("good medicine," a reference to the favorable climate), is a small city, but with about 5,000 people it is the largest community in Okanagan County. It is most well known for the annual Omak Stampede and its Suicide Race. Along Main Street, many of the business names echo the old west and cattle raising themes. According to the Wenatchee World, in 1910 Omak voted itself dry 97-2, while nearby Okanagan voted against prohibition by 82-40. Nevertheless, as we drove around the two cities in 2013, it was in Omak where we located an open bar, the Shorthorn Tavern.

The Shorthorn is a little larger than it looks from the outside, and serves up the classic small town dive bar drinks and food choices, pool tables and pull tabs. If you're going to be on Omak for a while, you could also try the lounge in the back of Mickey's (formerly The Lariat) or the North Country Pub, which we were not able to experience but look like they are also comfortable small town dives. You'd better have cash though, because that's all some of these places accept, and Mickey's has a notice specifically prohibiting bumming beers or cigarettes.

3 N Main St, Omak, WA 98841 - (509) 826-0338            

#2195 - Sit'n Bull Saloon, Conconully, WA - 5/26/2013

If things are a little raucous or dark for you at the Tamarack Saloon up the street, you can drop by the Sit'n Bull, which is brightly lit and considerably more sedate. On the Saturday night I visited it featured karaoke run by an unlikely looking host who looked like Ben Stein in a camo baseball cap. Basic dive bar food and drinks.

308 N Main St, Conconully, WA 98819 - (509) 826-2947

#2194 - Tamarack Saloon, Conconully, WA - 5/26/2013

Tamarack Saloon, Conconully, WA

Update: The Tamarack Saloon closed and was replaced by the Red Rock Saloon.

---

Conconully ("kahn-kah-NELL-ee") Washington is an old miners' camp that is now a tiny mountain town that knows how to have fun. It hosts events like the annual Outhouse Race and Cowboy Caviar (AKA bull testicle) Fete, and it features a rollicking waterhole called the Tamarack Saloon. The town is about seven blocks by four blocks squeezed between Lake Conconully and the Conconully Reservoir.

Jackson's Tavern, Conconully, WA
Current site of Tamarack Saloon
Photo from City of Conconully Facebook site

It was originally called "Salmon City," and hosted miners pulling out gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and molubdenum out of the surrounding hills and creeks. The name is purported to be a word the Okanagan Indians used for either "place of abundance" or "garden."

The Tamarack includes signs that say "Since the 1880s," but that seemed a bit questionable, and with the generous assistance of some volunteers at the Okanagan County Historical Society some of the history of the location came into better focus  Here are some historical notes that the OCHS provided me:

.

Trista, Gail, Jonette, and Kristin

1894 – Flood would have taken out any building at that location.

1904 – June photo shows no bulding at that location

1905 – A building is there on the corner
1909 – Sandborn Fire Insurance Map shows a building as “General Merchandise”
1911 – A building is there on the corner
1950s - Known as Jackson's Tavern and Grocery
1957 – Known as the “Conconully Tavern”
1958 – “Conconully Tavern & Grocery Store”
1970’s – ‘Tamarack Inn’ owned by Lucky Jones (after founding by Larry M. Hamilton)

Tamarack Saloon, Conconully, WA

Okanagan county was completely dry by 1910, so the structure would have had fairly limited time to have hosted a saloon before county prohibition, which of course was followed by statewide prohibition starting in 1916 and then federal prohibition into 1933.

In any case it is now good for a boisterous Friday or Saturday night out, and we enjoyed our visit as well as the company of Kristin and Cliff, Gail and Josette, and bartenders Kimberly and Stacy.




(See also: Pete's Map of Great Old Washington State Bars)

Down goes Josette!

316 N. Main, Conconully, Washington 98819 - (509)846-8137 - 1-888-746-8137
Web site: thetamaracksaloon.com
Reviews: yahoo.com 
Previous bars in this location: Jackson's Tavern, Conconully Tavern

#2193 - Sportsmen Roost, Republic, WA - 5/26/2013

One hundred years ago Republic was a booming mining town with a population of around 2,000 people, 20 saloons, and a thriving red light district featuring hostesses like "French Marie" and "Holdout Annie." 1,500 people would line Clark Avenue for the Fourth of July horse races and activities. The town started out as the "Eureka Gulch" mining camp virtually the minute the federal government opened the north portion of the Colville Indian reservation to mining claims. It boomed with series of nearby strikes, leading up to the discover of Knob Hill, the largest gold mine in the state of Washington.

The town is a sedate now, adjusted to host tourists and hunters along the approximately 1,000 residents. Many of the buildings along Clark Avenue try to invoke the old west, boomtown days, but not everyone is enamored with it. We met one of these people the lounge of the Sportsmen Roost, in the back behind the diner portion. You can get pretty typical diner food in front and pretty typical dive bar drinks in back. The woman opened up quickly and did not pause until we tore ourselves away to continue down the road. She told us about growing up in area, moving to a large town where she worked in schools, and coming back after she'd retired. She warmed up by pointing out the men in the bar who had recently had affairs, and with whom. She told us they couldn't have a school baseball team here, because parents just aren't willing to invest time in their kids, and the town is dying because the kids leave town as soon as they can and don't come back. She told us, without a hint of humor, that a virgin in this town was a six-year-old girl who could outrun her brothers. She darkened the bright, idyllic small town image like an old episode of The Twighlight Zone.

The Sportsmen Roost is not a lot to look at once you walk past the woody front. The interior doesn't have much more personality than a hospital lunch room. But of course seeing it only on a lazy Sunday afternoon is not a good way to get to know a bar -- just as listening to one person's highly depressed descriptions is no way to get to know a town. I'd like to come back some Friday or Saturday night when the lounge is full of locals and hunters and boaters from Swan Lake.  This stop just reminded us how much pretty much any bar, like pretty much any town, can't really be grasped from any one perspective.


645 S Clark Ave, Republic, WA 99166 - (509) 775-0404
Reviews: yelp - urbanspoon

#2192 - Whitebird Tavern, Northport, WA - 5/25/2013

While Kuk's is the main historical attraction among Northport, WA bars, the action tends to be at the Whitebird Tavern (AKA Whitebird Saloon and Eatery).  This was amplified on this particular visit, as local high school graduates were celebrating a reunion (the school is small, so they include several classes at once). All told there were maybe 80 people, dancing to the cover beats of the Fat Tones. The Whitebird has a bit better food and drink options, and plenty of character and characters. Up until 9pm it is a family restaurant, at which point, it changes to 21-and-older, and, if our experience was typical, includes one or two local 21+ folk partaking to the wobbly point where we were rather stunned they managed to remain upright through our entire stay.

302 Center Ave, Northport, WA 99157 - (509) 732-6638
Reviews: tripadvisor - yelp

#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