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Noel V. Bourasaw, editor 810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284 Home of the Tarheel Stomp Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug

The late Art "Tuffy" Pearson and other old-timers identified this photo by an unknown photographer as being of the interior of a cafe in downtown Woolley that acted as the waiting room for a brothel. Tuffy owned the Schooner Tavern a long time ago when it was still the Wixson Club and he once opined that the cafe in the photo may have stood on the site of the present Schooner. Because there is an oil lamp descending from the ceiling, we suspect that the photo was taken around the turn of the century. The most striking details of the photo, however, are the pages torn from magazines and pasted onto all the walls and the ceiling. Each features a Gibson girl or ideal woman. Apparently a patron would point to his favorite picture and the madam would try to match it with a girl who resembled the model.

      'The saloon, in relation to the wage-earning classes in America,' noted Walter Wyckoff, who had studied it in researching his book on American Workers (1900), 'is an organ of high development, adapting itself with singular perfectness to its functions in catering in a hundred ways to the social and political needs of men.'
      As Wyckoff suggested, saloons played several roles in late 19th-century worker culture. They provided the services of a neighborhood center; they offered a semipublic (largely male) preserve away from work and home; and perhaps most important, they were the most popular leisure environment for male workers from the 1870s until the enactment of Prohibition in 1919.
      By 1897, licensed liquor dealers in the United States numbered over 215,000, and unlicensed 'blind pigs' and kitchen bars represented an estimated 50,000 additional drinking outlets. In Chicago, saloons outnumbered groceries, meat markets, and dry goods stores counted together at the turn of the century. In 1915, New York had over 10,000 licensed saloons, or one for every 515 persons; Chicago had one for every 335, San Francisco had one for every 218, and Houston had one for every 198. . . .
      The typical workingman's saloon was readily recognizable by its swinging, shuttered doors and front windows cluttered with potted ferns, posters, and advertising displays. Inside a bar counter often affectionately called 'the long mahogany' ran the length of the room, paralleled by a brass footrail. Across from the bar might be a few tables and chairs, a piano, pool table or rear stalls. Interior walls might sport advertisements and chromolithographs of [boxer] John L. Sullivan, Custer's Last Fight, or standard barroom nudes like Andromache at the Bath.
      Breweries increasingly furnished saloons with such popular art, as well as all their fixtures. In most saloons, draft beer sold for a nickel and whiskey for ten or fifteen cents. Men drank their whiskey straight — to do otherwise would have been considered effeminate — followed by a chaser of water, milk or buttermilk.
      The everyday work routine of a saloon began early, usually at 5 or 6 a.m., serving workers a morning bracer with the coffee they carried in their lunch pails. . . . Later the saloon did a brisk trade at its side or back door when wives and children came to carry out beer in buckets, cans or pitchers (called growlers) for the evening meal. finally, in the evening hours, the saloon returned to being a workingman's domain.
      Saloons furnished the only free toilets in many cities, provided teamsters with watering troughs for their animals, and supplied all patrons with free newspapers. Many times, saloon keepers also cashed checks and lent money to customers. Saloons doubled as convenience stores, selling cigars and cigarettes, headache powders and bonbons — nicknamed 'wife pacifiers.' Often they acted as communications centers, places where workers picked up their mail, left messages, had access to a telephone, heard the local political gossip, or learned of work opportunities. . . .
      [By the 1880s], the [free lunch] spread across the country; within a decade it was a institution. Usually set out about eleven o'clock each morning and left until three in the afternoon, the free lunch came with the purchase of a nickel beer. Salty and spicy to provoke thirst, lunch fare was usually ample: cold meats, sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, bread, wursts, sliced tomatoes, onions and radishes. . . .
      The saloon supported and reinforced an all-male culture that was separate from the world of women and the demands of family. Drinking rituals reinforced male solidarity. The prevailing custom of 'treating' serves as an example. . . . Each man treated the group to a round of drinks and was expected to stay long enough to be treated, in turn, by others.

This is the interior of the Egan-McGrath saloon, which was in the Grand Central hotel at the foot of Metcalf street in Woolley, starting in the 1890s. In those days, Metcalf did not extend through and that site is now in the middle of the street. The bartender at the left is swarthy enough to star in any melodrama. Note the beautiful, hand-carved wooden back bar , the brass spittoon and the lack of bar stools. A real man stood while knocking one back in those days; stools were for sissies and stuffed shirts. This photo is courtesy of Lawrence Harnden Jr., a dear old friend and avid reader of our site. Nearly two dozen of his photos are being featured in Subscribers Edition of the Journal.

This photo features the interior of the Maine Saloon in Woolley sometime around the turn of the 20th century. A note on the back says that the saloon was owned by Joe Lederle, s German immigrant who was marshal for Sedro-Woolley right after 1900. Photo courtesy of Lawrence Harnden Jr..

Clear Lake historian Deanna Ammons found this photo of the Clear Lake Card Room. It was a social center and saloon in Clear Lake before the turn of the century and was owned by Frank Bergeron. It may have preceded his Magnolia Saloon in that railroad/mill town south of the Skagit. He would later buy Charles Villeneuve's Hotel Royal on Ferry street in Woolley and rename it the Vendome.

• First at Sterling — Oct. 29, 1884 — Charles McNeely and Alexander McKay — $100 Retail Liquor — Sterling precinct.
  
• Second at Sterling — Nov. 25, 1884 — A.H. Lindstedt — $100 Retail Liquor — Sterling precinct.
  
• Jan. 1, 1885 — Harry Botcher [maybe Bolcher] — $100 Retail Liquor — Padilla precinct.
  
• First grocery liquor license — July 29, 1885 — A.C. Davis — Grocery license for lager beer — Avon precinct — Authorized by same basic act of 1873, amended Nov. 12, 1875, and act of County Commissioners May 21, 1885.
  
• First at Lyman — Klement and Co. — May 20, 1886 — $100 Retail Liquor — Lyman precinct
  
• Sept. 30, 1886 — [William] Todd & Reis for Todd's Hall — $100 Retail Liquor — Sterling precinct
  

• Aug. 20, 1888 — William Todd — Retail liquor — Sterling precinct.
  
• 1888 — Henry Quinn — Lyman precinct.
  
• First at future Anacortes — Aug. 6, 1889, retroactive to Jan. 16 — Albert Taylor — Ship Harbor precinct, area just west of International Ferry Terminal in 2002.
  
• First at Hamilton — Noble and Weir — June 28, 1889 — Hamilton precinct.
  
• First at Sedro — Aug. 26, 1889 — S.J. Begut [spelling?] — Sedro precinct [Old Sedro by the river].
  
• First at Sauk City — Nov. 15, 1889 — C.H. Landers — Sauk precinct [Old Sauk City, south of the river, which was washed away during the flood of 1897].
  
• Dec. 1, 1889 — Gustav Pidde, M. Hurley — #2 at Sedro precinct, Renewed as #88 on Nov. 29, 1890.
  
• Nov. 5, 1889 — William Barratt — Sauk Precinct, Lot 3, section 34, Township 34 North, Range 9 East.
  

• Feb. 4, 1890 — John Klement [we cannot find a relationship between John and Otto Klement of Lyman] — Deception precinct [area southwest of present Anacortes, near east end of the Deception Pass bridge, which was built in 1935].
  
• Feb. 8, 1890 — Charles M. Myers and Thomas R. Callaghan — #3 at Sedro precinct.
  
• Feb. 10, 1890 — McDonald and Rees [spelling? this could have been the Reis that was on a license in Sterling above. #4 at Sedro precinct.
  

• Feb. 18, 1890 — Charles Schutt and Co. — Lot 19, block 120, east of [old] Sedro. #5 at Sedro precinct. Later transferred to Lot 4, block 4, Junction addition to Sedro, which was later annexed onto Woolley. Located just north of 2002 location of Skagit State Bank.
  
• March 1, 1890 — J.A. Fredericks — Lot 25, block 121, [old] Sedro, just west of F&S depot on north side of McDonald avenue. By the way, McDonald avenue eventually evolved into what is now River road, which heads east from Township street. #6 at Sedro precinct.
  
• March 1, 1890 — Samuel Mansford [or Munsford] — Hamilton precinct.
  
• May 1, 1890 — Joseph Vaydon — Block 20, Lot 11, Town of Sedro. The location was at the northwest corner of 8th and Sterling streets, halfway between the two towns of Sedro and in the heart of the logging section. License #7 at Sedro precinct.
  
• May 1, 1890 — Crossman and Chisholm — Block 121, lot 30 [old] Sedro. That was on the northwest corner of McDonald avenue at Fairhaven street, across the street from the F&S depot. Fairhaven was later changed to Graves street for an unknown reason. The street is no longer there, but you can tell where it was by looking at the wide strip of trees that continues north from the River road across from the entrance to Riverfront Park. #8 at Sedro precinct.
  
• First in Bayview area — Dickey and Stitt — Bayview-Padilla precinct.
  
• June 12, 1890 — Joshua Broker and Co. — Hamilton precinct.
  
• June 25, 1890 — J.W. Whiteford — Block 12, lot 7, Hamilton precinct. This location is in the old part of Hamilton that was vacated long ago after the bad floods of the 1890s and the killer flood of 1909. The saloon was on Water street, just yards from the Skagit river shore, between Railroad avenue and Noll street. The avenue was planned in the plat of 1890 to be the route of a railroad line, which was probably for an early logging company. Perhaps a reader can fill us in. If you enter Hamilton on Maple street, as you drive east, you see the old brick Hamilton bank on your left, or north, at the downtown intersection. The street intersecting, north and south, is Cumberland, which became the main street from the Seattle & Northern depot, north of town, down to the old town on the river. If you continue east on Maple, the next street is Nolle [spelling changed sometime in history] and then a relatively unused Railroad avenue is the street beyond that. We suspect that Whiteford's saloon was what later became known as the Yellowstone.
  
• June 29, 1890 — Milton B. Cook — Hamilton precinct.
  
• July 1, 1890 — Charles Wicker and Robert Harris — Hamilton precinct.
  
• First at Fir — July 1, 1890 — R. P. Cain and Gordon Shea — Fir precinct.
  
• July 15, 1890 — Adelbert Ford and William Murdock — Junction addition to Sedro, unknown lot. #11 at Sedro precinct.
  
• First at Montborne — July 15, 1890 — John Hitzner and ? Witzner and Joseph Segault — Lots 13-14, block ?, Montborne precinct.
  
• Aug. 1, 1890 — Owen Fulk — Bayview precinct, corner First and B streets.
  
• Aug. 18, 1890 — A. Revsbeck — Block 1, lot 13, First addition to Hamilton — This saloon was on Railroad avenue, at the northwest corner of Maple street.
  
• Aug. 20, 1890 — [William] Todd and [Charles Warner — Retail liquor $300 for one year [this is the first indication we have that the annual fee was raised] — Block 8, lot 1, [old] Sedro, southeast corner of Bennett and 7th streets. [This listing was published in the Skagit County Commissioners Ledger, volume 2, instead of the other ledger]. #10 at Sedro precinct. Renewed March 20, 1891.
  
• Aug. 27, 1890 — Peter Jaeger — Lot 12 & 13, Block 128, [old] Sedro. — Appears to be south side of McDonald Ave., which was the main street, 2 lots east of Township, half block from F&S railway depot. [This listing was published in the Skagit County Commissioners Ledger, volume 2, instead of the other ledger]. #11 at Sedro precinct.
  
• First at McMurray — Aug. 27, 1890 — Keenan and McMartin — Block 18, lot 11.
  
• Aug. 24, 1890 — W.H. Dexter — Block 6, lot 26, Hamilton townsite, first addition to Hamilton. — Block 6, lot 26, southeast corner of Maple and Noll streets.
  
• First in Avon — Sept. 1, 1890 — Lawrence Parkinson — Block 1, lot 1. North Avon was platted a mile north of the original town, to cluster around the depot for the new Seattle & Northern depot. The old town of Avon on the west shore of the bend of the Skagit river was platted as a temperance town and liquor was prohibited. The two towns were connected by a mile-long board sidewalk.
  
• Sept. 10, 1890 — William Hamilton, town founder of Hamilton — Block 2, lot 1. This appears to be a block east of his hotel, also on Water street. The address for the license was at the northeast corner of Water and Cumberland streets.
  
• First in Burlington — Oct. 1, 1890 — E.D. Burton — Lot 9, block 45 of Burlington.
  
• First at Woolley — Oct. 1, 1890 — Means & Lyles — Lot 1, block 4, Woolley precinct, northeast of F&S railway right of way, directly across from Great Northern depot, northwest corner of the triangular half block where Gateway parking lot is in 2002. This was a license for the St. Clair Hotel, owned by C.W. Waldron, which became the Osterman House in 1891. This is the first known license granted in P.A. Woolley's company town. John G. Hoehn, listed below, was just outside the eastern boundary of Murdock street.
  
• Oct. 6, 1890 — M.W. Glendow — Edison Hotel, Edison.
  
• Oct. 13, 1890 — John G. Hoehn — Block 4, lot 5 — This is the transfer from the original license of Schutt and Co. in Sedro. We will call it #2 in Woolley area.
  
• Oct. 25, 1890 — J.P. Millett — Block 4, lot 6, just south of Hoehn. #3 in Woolley area.
  
• Oct. 8, 1890 — R.L. Holmes and Edward Ball — Block 2, lot 4, Woolley precinct. — This was near or on the location of the famed Gem Saloon and was the first license registered on Northern avenue, south and across the street from the original depot at the crossing of the three rail lines. Just west of the old bowling alley in downtown Sedro-Woolley. #4 in Woolley area.
  
• Nov. 18, 1890 — R.D. McDonald — Block 1, lots 18 and 19, [new] Sedro — This is the first known building in what we now call new Sedro, the town that Norman B. Kelley platted in 1889. The saloon was located where the administration building of Sedro-Woolley high school now stands in 2002, at the northeast corner of Third and Bennett streets. #12 at Sedro precinct.
  
• Nov. 17, 1890 — J.W. Peake — Block 12, lot 7, Woolley precinct — This was in Woolley town, north of the Seattle & Northern railroad tracks, on the west side of Metcalf street, just south of the future Fern rooms and the future Skagit Steel & Iron Works administration building. #5 in Woolley area.
  

• Jan. 25, 1891 — Warner brothers — Block 53, lot 17, new Sedro. — This saloon was just north of Jameson street on the east side of Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern railway tracks. The depot was probably just north of the saloon. That later became part of block 214 in the replat of the first addition to Sedro and was later used as a lumber-stacking area for Willis Rogers and Pearson mill. That license marks the first time that fred A. Pape signed the ledger as auditor of Skagit county. #13 at Sedro precinct.
  
• Feb. 10, 1891 — Ferris and McCabe — Block 2, lot 1, Hamilton.
  
• Feb. 10, 1891 — J. Ford and J. Lapowa [or Lapawa] — Block 2, lot 3, Woolley — This is also near or on the site of the Gem Saloon. #6 in Woolley area.
  
• Feb. 15, 1891 — Henry Quinn — Lyman, unknown location.
  

• Feb. 19, 1991 — Samuel Mansford — Block B, lot 2, original plat of Hamilton, west of William Hamilton's hotel, near the river.
  
• Feb. 24, 1892 — Munroe & Co. — Block 4, lot 4, Junction addition to Sedro. This marked the third saloon side-by-side on the east side of Murdock street, north of Ferry street, joining Millett's and Hoehn's saloons. — #14 at Sedro precinct.
  
• First in Rockport area — March 7, 1891 — Jackman and Cozier — Cascade Precinct [Rockport], Section 13, Township 35 north, Range 10 east.
  
• March 20, 1891 — William Todd and Charles Warner — Lot 1, block 8, town of Sedro.
  
• March 30, 1891 — William Byers — Block 5, lot 5, Sauk City.
  
• April 1, 1891 — Ruben Barnes — Block 9, lot 1, Sauk City.
  
• April 28, 1891 — Thomas O'Connell — Block 1, lots 1 and 2, Hamilton — Issued for unexpired term of William Hamilton when he left town to move back east.
  
• Spring 1891 — W.J. Lyles, formerly partner in Woolley — Block 18, lot 16, Sauk City.
  
• First in Burlington — Spring 1891 — Albert Lundin — Block 69, lots 19-20, Burlington, listed in the Avon precinct.
  
• May 5, 1891 — Thomas Cain — Block 1, lots 4 and 5, Edison precinct.
  
• May 23, 1891 — Rasmus Hansen — Block 88, lot 22, Fidalgo City, Deception precinct.
  
• Aug. 4, 1891 — Dickey and Stitt — Water lot, corner of 1st and B streets, town of Bayview.
  
• Nov. 16, 1891 — George Engels — mouth of Cascade river, Cascade precinct, across Skagit from future Marblemount.
  
• First in Belfast — Feb. 8, 1892 — Warren Hedges — Block 1, lot 3, Belfast, Edison precinct.
  
• May 11, 1892 — Henry Quinn — Block 4, lots 1 and east half of 2, town of Lyman.
  
• June 2, 1892 — J.W. Egan — Block 3, lots 3-6, Mount Vernon.
  
• 1892 — Williams and Shockler — lot at Williams Block house, town of Burlington [in its own precinct now].
  
• Feb. 13, 1893 — Perry Gabriel — Block 2, lot 1, Belfast.
  

• Otto Peterson, Marblemount pioneer, tells about marketing moonshine on the Skagit river
  
• Some examples of Prohibition in Skagit County
  

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