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Skagit River JournalSubscribers Edition, where 450 of 700 stories originate The most in-depth, comprehensive site about the Skagit Covers from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Counties covered: Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish & BC. An evolving history dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindness |
 810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284Home of the Tarheel Stomp Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug |
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Fifty years ago, the Liberty Café was the social center of town and the Bell Room, in the south half of the building, was where most everyone went to calm down and shoot the breeze after work. My dad was a close friend of owner George Bellos and he was one of them at the Bell Room. Bellos came up from Everett in 1928 and replaced the old Met Café. His son, George, owns the building now, which has been vacant since Boondocks closed down. I still miss the go-go dancers in the cage. |
We did not know many specifics about the McDugle-Wagner Dairy drive-in restaurant on State street, or Mrs. Glad's relation until we remembered the article from the April 23, 1953, Courier-Times. These are our raw notes from it: "Opens on east state St. in the Grove Bldg. in former Bates Dairy that McDugle family bought 2 months ago. Both Mr. & Mrs. Glad (see her photo in part 4) grew up in Utopia district, have lived here for 50 years. She is sister of Lawrence Burmaster. Mr. is brother of Mrs. Burl Hinton. Mr. once worked at Farmer's co-op creamery at 3d & Jameson. Mrs. Taught at McRae & Skiyou before they moved to Anacortes. Mr. attended WSC and took course in dairy pressing before he worked in dairy plants. They bought the Wagner Dairy in Anacortes in 1938. John Glad is driver and Mrs. Glad will run the Grove Dairy Bar." Now we want to know more about the Bates dairy; all we have record of them is that they started on the north end of Collins road. Do you know? Don't you just love these little news items from long ago? We historians surely do. |
We hope that a reader will remember this café better than we do. It was the Gateway Café, with the Chit-Chat room for libations. The therapy business and a café share that space now in the eastern end of the ground floor of the Gateway hotel. We remember the Gaslight Room (wasn't that the name? that David McIntyre spruced up after buying the main part of the hotel. |
Bob's Place was on the west side of the 800 block of Metcalf, about where the former Holland Drugs stood for many years afterwards. Harry Bruggeman (above) was the manager when this photo was taken. |
| Bob's Place opened in the early '50s as Pete and Bob's, with the late Bob Magnuson as partner, until Bob literally threw his partner out the door, which always seemed so unusual because we got to know him well and he was far from being the fighting type. So it became Bob's. I remember Pete & Bob's very well. There was a magazine stand in the front (dating back to Carl Gampp's days) and a lunch counter in the front part, with a gate leading to the rest of the counter where you could have a beer with your meal. I especially remember when one of us would dare the other to crawl on the floor to the back and talk someone into a sip of their beer — we won extra points if we got the whole beer — without the waitress catching us. | |
This is the exterior of the Valley Dairy and its Dairy Bar in 1960, on the west side of Third street, just south of State street. Valley Dairy had originally started five decades earlier in what was new Sedro, where the southern building for the high school stands today. That was also the location for awhile for Bingham Bank and Holland Drugs, back circa 1894. |
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Upper right: And this was the interior of the dairy bar, a place I sure miss. Remember the individual juke-box selectors at each booth? The milk shakes that were so large that the waitress served the big tubed glass full and let you have the leftovers too, sometimes almost a pint. This photo is from the 1962 Kumtux annual for the high school. Fabyn Hanson and Connie Guddall, enjoying a beverage after school. |
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Upper left: The B&A Tavern, at the southwest corner of State and Metcalf streets was where we workers and roustabouts hung out. Ikey Blackburn ruled the roost, as his father, William Blackburn, did when he opened the saloon as the B&A Buffet in 1900. It was razed not long after (we do not have the year) Metcalf was extended south from State street. What a place. We will never see its like again. The back bar, however, was shipped over the Cascades to Three Fingered Jack's in Winthrop. By the way, the "A" in the name was for the elder Blackburn's partner, Eddie Adams, a shingle-packer from Clear Lake who set the world's record for packing in 1898. Upper right: The Castle Tavern, on the west side of the 700 block of Metcalf, where it still stands today. Now, however, it occupies both lots on the alley; back in 1960 Huston's barber shop was in what is today the northern half of the tavern. |
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Fisher's Freezer Fresh was a combination ice creamery, snack shop and magazine stand, north of the high school, on the southern lot beside the Lemley Mortuary on Third street, where the Lemleys later built a home. I cannot remember the owners well, but I sure remember their terrific sports magazines, especially about basketball, where I read about my hero, Elgin Baylor, of Seattle University, and that skinny kid who was taking the nation by storm, Lew Alcindor. |
This is the sign for the Old Timers Tavern on State street, which is still at the same location but in a newer building erected nearly a decade ago. The Grotto restaurant was next (west) on the corner of Metcalf street. It was originally Cook & Adams, a partnership that began in 1937 between Eddie Adams and Ford Cook, a local boy who later bought the Wixson Club next to the Gateway Hotel. |
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This photo was on the front page of the Courier-Times on June 11, 1964. The caption reads: "Hazel Maclellan and Mble Madden brewing up the final cup of coffee at the Grotto last Saturday afternoon. Mable closed the restaurant after being in business there for 19 years." The only thing we recall about the interior is the hole in the wall that connected with the Old Timers tavern on the east, so that waitresses could pass meals through to the tavern on order. |
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This photo of the new Holland Drugs was taken in 1967, just after owners Ed and Beverly Preston and partner Jerry Willins opened the store where Pete & Bob's and another store were previously located, on the side of the alley on the west side of the 800 block of Metcalf street. Previous to that the store was located in the old Holland annex, the southern wing of the Bingham Bank building. Walter Cottingham, Albert E. Holland's nephew, worked for Holland from 1911 onwards and the Prestons took over the store from him. Until Holland closed three years ago, it was the longest continuous business in the county. |
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We were amazed to see, when we searched through more than 2,000 scans, that we could not find a single photo of the Bowling Alley, where we set pins back in the 1950s. Rollie and Mildred Gaines owned it when it was at its peak, when there were multiple leagues for both men and women. I can remember Chuck Plummer burning up the lanes, with 300 games, and when Wes Allen, a fellow alumnus and pin-setter, was a star in his league. We post this photo from circ 1920, when the building was Schneider's department store. A wooden version of the building stood there until the fire in 1914. The view is south down Metcalf street from the railroad tracks. Photo by Frank LaRoche. |
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And this is a 1903 photo of original wooden Schneider's building, as provided by Muriel Weissberg, granddaughter of the Schneider family. She visited us when she was in her 90s and provided us with the photos and the whole family story. |
This was Ma Lipsey's Sedro-Woolley Drive-In, now Hal's, and it opened in 1949 as a Dairy Queen, along with another Dairy Queen also owned by the Pyeatt family in Mount Vernon. Do you know about the Pyatt/Pyeatt/Pyatte family or do you have photos of the original Dairy Queen or any other restaurants or confectioners in town? |
This is the Bingham-Holland Building at the southwest corner of Woodworth and Metcalf streets, the oldest building in town (1905) and still standing. Holland Drugs was still in the ground floor, to the left, and the bank was moved to Ferry street, where it is now Bank of America after years as Seattle First-National. |
We remember very little about Skagit Pharmacy except it was across Murdock street from the American Legion Hall and it was an annex to the Hunter Clinic, which was constructed in 1953, where Jim and Blanche Gray's home once stood amid several majestic chestnut trees. |
This is the exterior of Wyman McClintock's Drug Store on the east side of the 800 block of Metcalf street, where Oliver-Hammer Clothes Shop is located today. Wyman and his wife Catherine were the toast of the town. She was the daughter of David G. McIntyre, the owner of Skagit Steel & Iron Works. |
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This was Catherine and Wyman McClintock in their office at the back of the store, where Catherine often held court with her friends and wrote her fascinating biography columns for the Courier-Times in the 1930s. We sure wish we could find that amazing bulletin board with all the photos of the pioneers and their descendants who Catherine and Wyman knew. She and her sister Marjorie were dear friends of my mother's; Marjorie lived across the street from our home on Central street. And Marjorie's daughter, Berniece Leaf, has been our prime supporter and encourager since the beginning. |
This is Carl Buhler's Rexall Drug Store in the Odd Fellows Building, constructed in 1923 and now occupied by a video store. |
Do you have photos in your family collection of these kind of stores in old Sedro-Woolley, or any other stores? We would love to see scans or copies of any such photos, documents or articles. We never ask for your originals. |
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This was the interior of Buhler's Rexall store. Notice that he also sold veterinary drugs and supplies. From a photo postcard by Ellis, circa 1950s or early 1960s. Postcard from the Brett collection |
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This is a photo of the 60th reunion of J.J. and Sallie Conner in the back yard of their house, which is still standing north of city hall and across the street. Bill McCann and his son purchased the building for their law offices and restored it to excellent condition. See our profile of the family by their granddaughter Sara Butler, from memories of her mother, Helen Conner Butler (that page will soon be moved to this domain. If neither file connects, please email us).
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Would you like information about how to join them in advertising? Our newest sponsor, Plumeria Bay, is based in Birdsview, just a short walk away from the Royal family's famous Stumpranch, and is your source for the finest down comforters, pillows, featherbeds andduvet covers and bed linens. Order directly from their website and learn more about this intriguing local business. Oliver-Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 90 years continually in business. Peace and quiet at the Alpine RV Park, just north of Marblemount on Hwy 20, day, week or month, perfect for hunting or fishing. Park your RV or pitch a tent — for as little as $5 per night — by the Skagit River, just a short drive from Winthrop or Sedro-Woolley. Alpine is doubling in capacity for RVs and camping in 2011. Check out Sedro-Woolley First section for links to all stories and reasons to shop here firstor make this your destination on your visit or vacation. Are you looking to buy or sell a historic property, business or residence?We may be able to assist. Email us for details. |
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