This week, we scroll all the way back to a photo contest we held back in 2014. Can you name each McMenamins location shown? Property #1   Property #2 Property #3 Property #4 Property #5               Answers: FULTON PUB (Portland, OR) — see how little the interior structure has…

Hello from the History Department. Happy holidays, one and all! Here’s a good one from the archives, originally sent out five years ago. ***** Kathleen Eloise Rockwell (a.k.a. Klondike Kate, a.k.a. Kate Rockwell Warner Matson Van Duren, a.k.a. Aunt Kate) was born in Kansas in the early 1870s. The family moved to Spokane, WA, where…

Hello from the History Department. On the banks of the Columbia River, just north of where our Kalama Harbor Lodge stands today, there was once a huge and prosperous fish packaging plant called the Doty Fish Company. Founded in 1895, it was one of the enterprises that first brought the world a taste of the…

Hello from the History Department. First, some news – we’re excited to announce the addition of another History Pub to our repertoire. Beginning January 29, 2020 (and continuing every last Wednesday of the month), the Compass Room at the Grand Lodge will be the latest venue to host one of our free, monthly history programs.…

Hello from the History Department. Along with many examples of Native artwork and sculpture at the Kalama Harbor Lodge, there is a guest room named for the indigenous Chinook people, who thrived in the region “since time immemorial.” Sharing their history is a just one way to honor those who came first. As we know…

Hello from the History Department. Did you miss Fibonacci Day, on 11/23? Yeah, we did, too. Below, Justyn Livingston, for whom we named a room in the Art House at Old St. Francis School in Bend, OR, explains her artistic inspiration through the teachings of mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci (ca. 1170–1250). You might already be familiar…

Today is Terminator’s 34th birthday celebration (pints for $4.50! Growler fills just $9! 20% off Terminator merch!) — but here is some fascinating company history about one of our flagship beers. Behold, the original Hammerhead logo, compliments of McMenamins artist Lyle Hehn, conceived on February 1, 1992. A triumphant, confident pose, overalls and rolled-up shirtsleeves,…

Think you’re a McMenamins history buff? Identify the five properties associated with these celebrities. Property #1 Actors River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves with director Gus Van Sant Property #2 A Mc regular with Bruce Springsteen Property #3 Krist Novolselić, co-founder of Nirvana Property #4 Mc employee with Portland Trail Blazer Damian Lillard Property #5 Sasquatch,…

Hello from the History Department. This coming Monday, Nov. 11, is Veterans Day. McMenamins History Department first sent out the post below in November 2018, but the holiday’s origin story (which has a tie back to the Tacoma Elks lodge and this fantastic historic artifact to accompany it) bears repeating as this November 11th marks…

Hello from the History Department. In honor of the World Series, this week’s history post is about a NY Yankee who was also a Kennedy School alumnus: Don Johnson. (No, not that Don Johnson of Miami Vice, but this one of Portland….) ********* “I was no superstar, but I played with the best players who…