Stephanie and Merrick McGinnis have ridden their bikes from Key West to Nova Scotia, Boston to Seattle and up and down the West Coast. Now these two-time Cosmic Tripsters are taking McMenamins by bike on a quest to fill their third Passports in a ride that may not be their longest (Boston-Seattle gets that honor…
Read More“We used to be very busy at the Corvallis Pub in those days, as well. I’ll never forget telling people it was going to be an hour-and-a-half wait for a table and another hour wait for food, and they say, ‘Great! throw me on the list.’ You know you have a good thing going at…
Read More1985. Ronald Reagan is president, The Goonies is popular in theaters, the Unabomber is at large in the U.S., Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. and McMenamins’ first beer is born. In 1985 McMenamins was two years old and, after the recent passage of the Brewpub Bill, just dipping our toes into the proverbial mash of…
Read MoreWhile few can likely relate to the turbulent ups and downs of the famous Brando family, every one of us understands the desire for a friendly place where we can escape from real life, even if just for a short while. Incredibly, for legendary actor Marlon Brando and eldest son Christian Brando, that place was…
Read MoreGeorge Putnam Riley was a brilliant activist, orator and lifetime barber lived an extraordinary existence during a pivotal time in American history, during the second half of the nineteenth century. His formative years were shaped by his East Coast upbringing, but his true character came from his life experiences on the Pacific Coast. The African-American…
Read MoreShe was many things: an accomplished performer, revered instructor, passionate political activist and loving wife and mother. Bonnie Bird also was a Bothell, Washington, resident into the 1930s, while the rest of her family continued to live there into the ’50s. Bonnie was born in Portland in 1914 and spent most of her childhood in…
Read MoreThe Cedars In 1917, a detention home for “fallen women” called The Cedars was built to the north of Edgefield, under the stewardship of Lola Baldwin, Portland’s first policewoman and namesake of our Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom. Press clippings trumpeted The Cedars as a “refuge for diseased women.” Yet the concern wasn’t actually…
Read MoreHave you recently changed your plans from that big, 250 guest wedding to a more intimate gathering of your closest family and friends? Or maybe you never wanted a big wedding and have always planned on eloping? Well, we’ve got the perfect packages for your special day! Checkout out our Elopement To-Go Packages in both…
Read MoreArt and write-up by McMenamins artist Kolieha Bush My trip to the White Bird Clinic was an inspiring and eye-opening experience. I’ve known of White Bird since the late 1970s as the medical and first aid booth at the Oregon Country Fair each year. I also saw them providing their services during the Further Festival…
Read MoreGrace Tibbet’s mother was a Native Clatsop named Louisa, of whom little is known. Her father, Calvin Tibbets, was a stonecutter from Maine who had ventured west in 1832, across the plains and over the mountains to Oregon, his new permanent home. He was the first U.S. citizen to do so, earning him the sobriquiet…
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