Here is a recent photo of this exquisite piece being installed in the top-floor ballroom at the Elks Temple in Tacoma. Easily 10 feet of gilded metal and glass, this magnificent chandelier reportedly took six months to construct for the lobby of the Orpheum Theater in Seattle in 1927. Imagine it casting a glittery glow…

Here we have Krist Novoselic, Joe Cowan and Neko Case hanging out on the Elks Lodge stage. In  the early ‘90s, Novoselic and the rest of Nirvana used their fame to advocated for gay rights in the Northwest (Novoselic later became a WA state politician). At that time he also became friends with Case, who…

Think you’re a McMenamins history buff? Identify the five properties with the clues below. 1. An eclectic mix of longshoremen, teamsters, brewery and mill workers have mingled with college students, legislators, governors, judges and lobbyists. 2. “No more can be said for them than that the man who took them is an honest individual and…

“There’s no doubt about it. She was a perfectionist. She wanted everything right, and in order. With her life, and in her teaching. That’s the way she was.” —Bob Palm, Elsie’s nephew All told, Elsie Isaacson Francis taught 42 years at Kennedy School, from its very early years into the late 1950s, one of the…

As you stroll around our Anderson School property – or any of our joints, really – you will notice a preponderance of two things: interesting lighting fixtures and interesting music. Without these two elements (among others), it simply wouldn’t be a McMenamins. And that is why we named a room for Harvey Hansen, a one-time…

This is a piece in process by artist Andy Eccleshall inspired by the Jolly Corks. In 1867, this rowdy group of theater menfolk, named for a parlor trick involving a champagne cork that they’d play on unsuspecting dupes, formed the basis for what is today the civic- and community-minded Elks organization. Artist Ryan McDonald depicts…

So why did the Slabtown Festival come about? It had its beginnings because of baseball. Back in January 2006, friends and fellow Slabtown history enthusiasts Mike Ryerson and Tim Hills organized a gathering for a number of the old Croatian residents of Slabtown, most of whom shared ties to St. Patrick’s Church, Tavern & Pool…

The schoolroom clock turns 11:30 a.m. Chairs scrape back from desks, voices rise in a cheerful cacophony and suddenly, 450 schoolchildren begin parading through the doors of the cafeteria, what is today’s Courtyard Restaurant at the Kennedy School. From 11:30 a.m. ‘til 1 p.m., lunch was doled out to one child after another after another…

Think you’re a McMenamins history buff? Identify the five properties associated with these images. 1. In the 1870s, this pub’s neighborhood acquired its unusual name when a lumber mill opened; the leftover log edges were a cheap source of heating and fuel for working-class neighbors. Hint: Its annual community festival is coming up Sat., September…

In 1799 in Brimfield, MA, Tabitha Moffatt married the Reverend Clark Brown at the age of 19; the couple had three sons and a daughter. When her husband passed, she supported her family by teaching school until age 63, at which point her extended family decided to move west. So, in Spring 1846, three generations…