Did You Know about the Bombing?

The Rock Creek Tavern is a gorgeous spot, nestled among the quiet hills and dales of Hillsboro, Ore. It’s a fantastic place to enjoy a cold pint beneath the trees while you listen to the sounds of the countryside and laze away a few hours of your day.

But its history hasn’t always been so serene…

Did You Know about the Bombing?

Let’s back up to the 1930s, to a shop owned by Bill and Myrtle Fuegy, which stood on the spot of what is today the Rock Creek Tavern. The Fuegys served the first post-Prohibition beers at the store in 1933. Ironically, these first beer sales unwittingly drew the couple into the fray called the Beer War of 1935.

The Fuegys, you see, served Marinoff brand beer. Unfortunately for them, the brewery’s owner, Peter Marinoff, was playing a dangerous game of chicken with the Teamsters Union at the time. The Teamsters insisted that Marinoff allow their union members to distribute his beer. When Marinoff refused to yield, his Brewery Workers Union-associated truck drivers began to get harassed. So the Marinoff truck drivers took to carrying guns, as shown here in this terrific shot that looks like it could have been played out on a Hollywood sound stage.

Then Teamsters, in turn, started bombing the taverns carrying Marinoff’s products! In the middle of the night on May 30, 1935, three goons came calling to the Fuegys’ store. They tossed a dynamite bomb just to the south of the building. Fortunately, the explosion did little damage, save for shattering several windows and leaving a huge crater in the ground.

While today’s Rock Creek Tavern is of new construction, the crater still remains off the tavern’s southwest corner.

Thursday, May 30, 2013, marked the 78^th anniversary of the Rock Creek bombing. The next time you’re there, take a pint in hand and stroll around the side of the property to have a look at the historic, beer-worthy hole in the ground, a lasting reminder of the Beer War of 1935.