The Oldest Stuff in Seattle

Christian: [0:00] Hello, hello, and welcome to another edition of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. This is your host, Christian Awesome, of the Awesome Nossum Group at Wilson Realty Exchange, Inc. And just so you know, the reason we call this podcast Awesome in Seattle is because we love this city. And in addition to sharing our real estate knowledge with you within these episodes, we also love to share its history, and that's exactly what we're gonna do on today's episode. Today we'll attempt to unearth what the oldest places in Seattle are, like the oldest bar, school, house, brewery, gay bar, and many other fun tidbits that are great for breaking out at a party. But first, let's say hello to my awesome co-hosts, the hardworking agents of the Awesome Nossum Group. First up, we have the one, the only, Reed Watson.

Reed: [0:47] Hello.

Christian: [0:49] We have Melanie Ghadami.

Reed: [0:51] Hey.

Christian: [0:52] We have Nicholas Toll. Hello. And the dog whisperer himself, Mr. Les Cutting.

Les: [0:59] Ruff, ruff, woof, woof. Who let the dogs out?

Christian: [1:02] Yes.

Les: [1:04] Yes, yes, let's go.

Christian: [1:05] All right. Well, so before we get too far into this episode, I wanna explain how this is gonna work. So each of us chose three or four of the oldest places or things in Seattle that are still in operation or in use today. The rest of us are going to make our best guess as to what the answer is. So let's get started with something really fun, and somewhat controversial. This is- What is the oldest bar in Seattle? Reed, I know you, you did all the research on this one. I'll let you go first.

Reed: [1:34] Yes. So I actually came up with the idea for this podcast, um- At a

Christian: [1:38] bar

Reed: [1:39] at a bar. Because if you haven't noticed, there are quite a few bars all around Seattle that claim to be the oldest bar in Seattle, and quite a few articles about bars claiming those bars to be the oldest bar in Seattle, but if you check all of the dates, a lot of it doesn't add up. So this may be a little bit controversial, but I just went with the earliest opening date I could possibly find. I did my research. You guys are gonna guess, and then I'm gonna tell you. The answer surprised me a little bit. Christian, let's start with you. What do you think the oldest bar in Seattle is?

Christian: [2:14] I know. I was thinking about this. I did not do research, 'cause I didn't want to spoil it. I'm just going off pure brain power here, and I don't know if this is true or not, but I'm gonna say the J&M Cafe.

Reed: [2:25] Okay. Nick, do you wanna go while Melanie's thinking?

Nicholas: [2:28] Yes. All right. I'm going to guess the Merchant's Cafe and Saloon.

Christian: [2:32] Mm.

Reed: [2:32] All right. Oh. All right, Melanie, do you have one?

Melanie: [2:35] Yeah, I s- I think it's the Central Saloon.

Reed: [2:39] Nice. And Les, last but not least. Oh, yes, yes. I've been, I've been waiting. What's your guess?

Les: [2:43] I'm gonna go ahead and say, I don't know if it's true or not, but the Orient Express on 4th.

Reed: [2:52] Mm. That would be fun. Maybe the oldest- Is that the, is that the

Christian: [2:52] one with the, uh, the train cars? The

Reed: [2:54] train car?

Christian: [2:54] Yes.

Les: [2:55] Yeah.

Reed: [2:55] Maybe the oldest, um- Train car … vessel. Yeah. The oldest train car bar. Okay. So these are some good guesses, and you all actually mentioned bars that I have written down as bars that claim to be the oldest. Oh. Um, the answer as far as I could find is the Jules Maes Bar in Georgetown. Hm. Oh. Oh. It was started in 1888, and there are lots of articles that claim that the Merchant's Saloon is the oldest restaurant and bar, but the Merchant's Saloon was started in 1889. Hm. Hm. I see a lot of media around the Merchant Saloon being the oldest, but every source says that the Merchant Saloon was started in 1889, and the Jules Maes Bar was started in 1888. It's in Georgetown, and it's named for Jules Maes, I think that's how you pronounce it, who around that time was kind of known as the honorary mayor of Georgetown. He was very involved down in that area as it was kind of being developed. And then I have a list for you all of some of the other bars that claim to be the oldest bars in Seattle. We have the Merchant Saloon, which we talked about. Um, The Tin Hat in kind of the Phinney-Ballard area. Uh, J&M Cafe, that's your guess, Christian. Mm-hmm. The Central Saloon, which was Melanie's guess, as well as the Blue Moon Tavern. Hmm. All of these in some way claim to be, or have lots of articles that claim that they are the oldest, but they were all founded after 1888, and the Jules Maes Bar was started in 1888, making it the oldest bar in Seattle.

Christian: [4:38] Interesting.

Nicholas: [4:38] Cool. I guess the Merchant's Cafe- The OG … and Saloon can still consider itself the oldest restaurant, then. Sure. Maybe that's why they call themselves the oldest.

Reed: [4:45] Yeah.

Melanie: [4:46] Mm-hmm.

Reed: [4:47] Very possible. Okay, so next up I am excited about this one. I got the oldest coffee shop, um, and I did the oldest coffee shop that's still in business. Does anyone have a guess? Nick, do you wanna guess first?

Nicholas: [5:01] Yes. I am going to guess Caffe Allegro in the U District.

Christian: [5:06] Nice.

Reed: [5:06] Ooh.

Melanie: [5:06] Seattle's

Christian: [5:07] best coffee. Ooh, good guess.

Reed: [5:10] Christian?

Christian: [5:12] Yeah, I have no clue. Um, I'm just gonna say Starbucks, but I know it's wrong. But clearly based off what, uh, yeah, based off what Nick just shared with us, I know I'm wrong, but I'm just gonna go with it.

Reed: [5:24] And last, do you have a guess for the oldest coffee shop?

Les: [5:26] I'm not a big coffee drinker. Yeah. Um, so I'm gonna go ahead and say Starbucks as well.

Reed: [5:32] Cool, cool. But he

Les: [5:32] just said he knows he's wrong. Well,

Reed: [5:34] nevermind. I don't know. Mm-hmm. The answer is indeed Caffe Allegro in- Wow … the U District. Well done, Nick. It was started in 1975, and of course there were lots of coffee shops before that, uh, but all have since gone.

Nicholas: [5:47] I was gonna say, fun fact about other coffee shops in the U District-

Reed: [5:51] Mm-hmm … Nicholas: that I just thought everybody should know. Uh, prior to Caffe Allegro there were a lot of really interesting, like, beatnik coffee shops- Mm-hmm … all around the U District throughout- Sure … the '50s and '60s. And during the Summer of Love, Seattle actually had a lot of human be-ins like San Francisco had, and those were all, like, inspired originally as protests against the closures of the beatnik coffee shops, and then they evolved into the h- the U District hippie riots of the 1970s that led our counterculture to be a little bit more in your face than San Francisco's. But yeah, that's, that's a fun fact about the coffee shops of the U District.

Christian: [6:31] That's cool. Very cool. I did not know that.

Reed: [6:33] That's great. Yeah. We're gonna talk a little bit more about the first Starbucks in just a little bit here, so definitely stay tuned for that. Um, okay, my last one that I researched was to find the oldest skyscraper in Seattle. This one's probably pretty easy for everybody to guess. So let's just go with Mel. What's your guess?

Melanie: [6:55] I'm gonna go with Columbia Tower.

Reed: [6:58] Okay. Les, what's your guess?

Christian: [7:00] The Smith Tower.

Reed: [7:02] All right. Nick? Oh,

Melanie: [7:03] shit. I know it's the Smith Tower.

Reed: [7:06] Christian?

Christian: [7:07] Yep, I'm agreeing. It is the Smith Tower.

Melanie: [7:10] Guys, fuck.

Reed: [7:11] I wonder if they can-

Melanie: [7:13] I got it wrong.

Reed: [7:14] So yeah, the answer is the Smith Tower. It was built in 1914, and at the time it was not only Seattle's first skyscraper, but also the tallest building west of the Mississippi. So today it perseveres as an office building, residence, and it also has a rooftop bar and observatory, um, which I've never been to, but it sounds pretty cool.

Christian: [7:37] It is super cool. I'm gonna get to go. I actually went to, in the, uh, in the apartment, which is in the little triangle at the top-

Reed: [7:43] Yeah … Speaker: a few years ago. They had a few concerts, very intimate, uh, concerts where it was just, like, acoustic with a couple singers, and I went to two or three of them, and they were so cool. It's, like, 40 people in this little tiny apartment. The acoustics were crazy cool. And yeah, it was awesome.

Nicholas: [8:04] They have gilded elevators that still have elevator operators. I've, I've been to offices in there before, and it is really cool in there.

Christian: [8:13] It really is. All right. Melanie, what are the three places or things that, that you looked up?

Melanie: [8:19] The three places that I got to research were the oldest brewery, oldest bridge, and the oldest theater/concert venue.

Reed: [8:28] Ooh. Okay.

Melanie: [8:29] Mm-hmm. Yeah. So let's start with the oldest theater or concert venue, and I will start with Les. What's your guess?

Les: [8:36] Ooh. I'm gonna say the Moore Theater.

Melanie: [8:39] Okay. Nick?

Nicholas: [8:40] Uh, I'm gonna say either the Showbox or the Moore. Um, let's… I'm gonna go with the Moore as well.

Melanie: [8:46] Okay. Reed?

Reed: [8:47] I'm gonna go with the Moore, definitely.

Melanie: [8:51] And Christian

Christian: [8:52] I, I think you guys are all correct, so I'm gonna say something different just in the off chance that I'm right, and I'm gonna go with the Paramount.

Melanie: [8:59] Ah. Nice. Well, Christian, you are wrong.

Christian: [9:03] Ah.

Melanie: [9:05] The Moore Theater in downtown Seattle at 2nd and Virginia. It was built in 1907 by a real estate developer named James Moore, and so it is the oldest concert/theater venue.

Christian: [9:19] Cool.

Reed: [9:20] And if you wanna learn a little bit more about the Moore Theater, we have an episode way back when; we're actively recording right now, so I can't check which one, but it's called Seattle's Unfortunate History, and we talk a little bit about the Moore and sort of the segregation that, that went on within that theater and how it's kinda preserved within the building today in certain ways.

Melanie: [9:41] Nice. Check it out. So next let's name which brewery is the oldest in Seattle. Both Reed and Christian know the answer to this, and we brought it up during podcast episode n- number 73, Wish You Were Beer, when they interviewed the founder of Stoup Brewing in Ballard and Kenmore, so we'll ask them. So we'll just-

Christian: [10:02] You're, you're giving me too much credit that I remember something- 10 episodes ago.

Melanie: [10:05] Wow. We'll just leave you two out. So let's start with Nick. What's your guess?

Nicholas: [10:11] This is hard because both of my guesses have moved out of Seattle. Rainier moved as far as Milwaukee. Um, Red Hook moved to Redmond, I think.

Melanie: [10:22] Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Nicholas: [10:23] So it's tempting to say the Pike, but you know what? I'm gonna guess, I'm gonna guess Red Hook. I'm gonna guess that still counts.

Melanie: [10:31] Okay. Uh, Les?

Les: [10:35] Uh, not a huge beer drinker like that. Uh, I'm gonna go ahead and say Georgetown for 300, Mel.

Melanie: [10:46] Ah. All right. Well, you just lost.

Nicholas: [10:51] Harsh.

Melanie: [10:52] Yeah. Sorry, gotta keep it real. Um, the answer is Pike Brewing.

Nicholas: [10:59] Dun-dun-dun. Nice. Oh, I, I said it, but I didn't-

Christian: [11:01] I did know it … Melanie: you, you, yeah, you were there. You were… Um, Pike Brewing was actually the third microbrewery in Seattle. However, today, 33 years later, Pike Brewing is the oldest independent brewery. So last but not least, I got to learn which bridge is the oldest in Seattle, which I actually learned. Ooh. Which I did not know.

Nicholas: [11:21] Hmm.

Reed: [11:23] Well, it's not- Do you guys- the West Seattle Bridge. Yeah. Not that

Melanie: [11:26] one. Uh, yeah, exactly. So we'll start with you, Reed.

Reed: [11:31] This has gotta be, this has gotta be a bridge that you can drive over, yeah?

Melanie: [11:35] It's a street bridge.

Reed: [11:37] Right.

Melanie: [11:37] Yeah.

Reed: [11:37] Got it. Yeah. I'm gonna say the Montlake Bridge.

Melanie: [11:41] All right. Ooh, that's a good guess. That's a good guess. Mm-hmm. Uh, moving on to Nick.

Nicholas: [11:46] I'm gonna say it's one of the four, uh, ship canal

Reed: [11:51] drawbridges. Wow.

Nicholas: [11:51] Um, but Ballard used to be its own city, and the s- interurban streetcar went from downtown to Everett via Ballard. It was really Ballard to Everett. So I'm gonna guess that they wanted to link the Ballard to Everett streetcar.

Melanie: [12:06] Hmm.

Nicholas: [12:07] Uh, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna say it was the Ballard Bridge.

Melanie: [12:11] Yeah. Hmm. Okay. That's good. All right. Les?

Christian: [12:14] First Avenue Bridge. Okay.

Melanie: [12:16] Christian.

Christian: [12:17] I'm left. All right. I was going through the same thought process as Nick, so I'm gonna go with one of the last remaining ones, which is the Fremont Bridge.

Melanie: [12:27] All right. Oh, man, you guys Thanks, Les. I don't know. I mean, I might be doubting my own self at this point. But the answer is Seattle's Dearborn Street Bridge.

Christian: [12:40] Hmm.

Reed: [12:41] Oh.

Melanie: [12:41] Which

Nicholas: [12:41] was cons- Dearborn Street Bridge, huh?

Melanie: [12:43] Yes. Dearborn

Nicholas: [12:44] Street Bridge. Which

Reed: [12:45] was- Like South Seattle?

Christian: [12:46] So it's what's now the Jose Rizal Bridge.

Nicholas: [12:49] Oh, okay. Yeah. You mean the 12th Avenue Bridge?

Christian: [12:52] Yep.

Nicholas: [12:52] Oh,

Christian: [12:53] huh.

Reed: [12:54] The

Nicholas: [12:54] what?

Reed: [12:54] The 12th

Nicholas: [12:54] Avenue Bridge. The 12th Ave. It goes from Little Saigon to Beacon Hill.

Christian: [12:59] Yeah, to North Beacon Hill. Okay, so you're right. Yeah, interesting. That's okay. Yeah, I didn't know that. We were all crossing

Reed: [13:02] water.

Nicholas: [13:03] Mm-hmm.

Reed: [13:03] Yeah. Yep.

Nicholas: [13:04] Yeah, I've always just called that the 12th Avenue Bridge, 'cause it goes up to Jose Rizal Park, which is North Beacon Hill. Correct.

Christian: [13:10] Yep, and there's a nice dog park there.

Melanie: [13:12] It's been around since 1911.

Christian: [13:14] That's crazy. It's- I would not have guessed that. Well, clearly, 'cause I didn't.

Melanie: [13:18] Yeah. Well, I learned

Les: [13:20] it.

Christian: [13:21] Next up, Les, what do you got for us?

Les: [13:23] All right. So everyone here likes sushi, right?

Melanie: [13:27] Oh, yeah.

Les: [13:28] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. All right. So I did a little research. It was actually more fun than I, I would expect. So we all like sushi, so I wanted to know where the oldest sushi spot was. Do you guys have any guess?

Reed: [13:42] I'm

Christian: [13:42] gonna

Reed: [13:42] abstain

Christian: [13:43] So am I, 'cause I definitely have been there numerous times Because Christian and I both know.

Les: [13:48] Abstain. Okay. All right. What about you, Mel?

Melanie: [13:52] Uh, oh, man.

Les: [13:55] Come on, Money Mel.

Melanie: [13:56] Let's go with Sushi in Seattle.

Les: [13:59] Sushi in Seattle. There's

Melanie: [14:00] nothing called that. I'm just joking. Ton Sushi.

Les: [14:05] Okay. Um, how about you, Nick?

Nicholas: [14:07] My guess is, so in the International District there's three smaller neighborhoods, Japantown, Chinatown, and Little Saigon.

Les: [14:15] All right, man. Pick a sushi restaurant,

Nicholas: [14:16] man. Yeah, there's two sushi restaurants in Japantown, so my guess is Musashi's?

Les: [14:21] No. You are all wrong. It's Maneki. Yes. Um, established in 1904. Wow. I know, Christian, this is one of your favorite sushi spots. It is. Um, but it was established in 1904. It's popular for its sushi bar, tatami rooms, which are like little private matted rooms- Mm-hmm and also a karaoke bar. It's in the International District, and yeah.

Reed: [14:44] And Les, if I can just add on to that. Um- Go ahead,

Les: [14:47] girl … Reed: we actually, one of my favorite podcasts we've done recently is episode number 42, The International District. There you go. And we talk about how Maneki was one of only three Japanese-owned businesses that survived the internment of our Japanese citizens during World War II. So go check that episode out. It's all about the International District- Yep … and it's really fun. My next one is houseboat. Do any of you guys know what is the oldest houseboat or houseboat community in Seattle?

Reed: [15:21] I would guess the Portage Bay houseboat

Melanie: [15:25] community.

Christian: [15:26] That's, that's my guess as well. Definitely Portage Bay. Yeah, definitely Portage Bay.

Les: [15:29] Melly Mel, what you got for me? I,

Melanie: [15:31] I was gonna say Lake Union, but probably I'm definitely off.

Les: [15:35] All right. So it is the Wagner houseboat, known as the Old Boathouse. It's one of the oldest floating homes in Seattle. It's also located on, or it's located on Westlake Ave, near the Aurora Bridge.

Christian: [15:47] Hmm.

Les: [15:48] Mm-hmm. Um, it's basically a historic building. Um, and it's actually registered in the National Register of Historic Places.

Christian: [15:56] That's cool. Very cool.

Nicholas: [15:56] That's cool. That's right by where, that's right by the Sleepless in Seattle houseboat then.

Reed: [16:00] Mm-hmm.

Nicholas: [16:01] Oh. That's where West- Westlake is where Sleepless in Seattle was s- um, was set.

Reed: [16:05] Yep.

Les: [16:06] And also another fun fact about it, it's the first Seattle floating, uh, floating home to achieve a landmark status from the Landmark Preservation Board. So that's pretty exciting as well. Um, a lot of history right in our backyard. Yeah.

Reed: [16:20] Hey, Mr. Wagner's wife founded the Center for Wooden Boats.

Les: [16:24] Hmm,

Christian: [16:25] that's cool.

Reed: [16:26] Thanks, Google. Which is still

Christian: [16:26] in operation today.

Les: [16:28] All right, so here's my last one, and you guys may know this, you may not. Where is the first Starbucks located?

Christian: [16:36] Hmm. Yeah, I know, so I won't say anything.

Les: [16:39] Take a guess. Guess. All right, let's go with Reed.

Reed: [16:42] I, I gotta guess store number one in the Pike Place Market, right?

Les: [16:46] All right, all right. Okay, let's see. Melly Mel, what you got, Melly Mel?

Melanie: [16:50] We're going with the Pike Place.

Les: [16:51] You're gonna go Pike Place? Yep. Okay. And Nick, what do you have, my man?

Nicholas: [16:55] So I know Christian will back me up on this. I happen to know it is both in Pike Place Market and not in Pike Place Market.

Les: [17:03] A-ha. Score one. Explain.

Nicholas: [17:05] So Starbucks, uh, was originally founded right next to the northern entrance of Pike Place Market, and that was store number one. And eventually they decided, w- what are we doing telling people that we were founded next to Pike Place Market? We want people to believe that we were founded in Pike Place Market. So once they'd already opened another store or two, they- moved their original store, store one, into Pike Place Market and started telling everybody that that's the original Starbucks, that that's where they were founded, and they have pushed that campaign so hard that to this day there are lines around the block for the original Starbucks, but it's not even the original Starbucks.

Christian: [17:52] Yep.

Nicholas: [17:52] It's just sh- goes to show you, if you tell a lie enough times it becomes true. And it's half true in this case.

Reed: [18:00] Mm-hmm. Another fun fact. They had to work really hard and pay quite a bit of money to move into the market proper, because Pike Place actually has a contract with every store that is properly inside of the market. They have to be the only one of existence in the world to kind of create this very unique group of shops, and Starbucks obviously is everywhere, and even before, as Nick was saying, they had a few other stores. So it was this huge uphill battle they had to fight to be allowed into the market, because they're the only store in there that has other locations that you could visit somewhere else.

Nicholas: [18:41] Interesting. I'm sure a lot of money was paid to- Mm-hmm … a lot of people who are pretending they didn't take the money.

Les: [18:46] Good job, guys. Good answers. Uh, what do you have for us, Christian?

Nicholas: [18:50] All right, my turn.

Christian: [18:52] The three things that I will be quizzing you each on are the oldest park, oldest school, and oldest airport, and these are airport in Seattle. Oh. Ooh. So let's start with that. Les, you get to go first. What do you think the oldest airport is in Seattle?

Les: [19:09] The oldest airport. Okay, um, Boeing Field Airport.

Christian: [19:13] Good guess. Okay, Reed?

Reed: [19:15] I'm gonna be wild and say Boeing Field Airport.

Christian: [19:18] No way. Mm-hmm. That's crazy. Nick?

Nicholas: [19:20] I am going to take a, a random guess and say King County Regional Airport, which is the new name of Boeing Field.

Melanie: [19:29] Oh, wow.

Christian: [19:30] All right.

Nicholas: [19:31] Mel? It's losing its name on everybody's-

Melanie: [19:32] Yeah … on my watch. I, I go with the Boeing Field.

Christian: [19:35] All right. You guys are all correct. So on July 26, 1928, Seattle's first municipal airport was dedicated. Located south of the city, it's named Boeing Field because of the Boeing airplane company's proximity, and because Boeing's Pacific Air Transport, which was later became United Airlines, used it for regular airmail service. The area of Boeing Field was served by three rail lines and by Highway 99, and it was near water for use by sea planes, so it was a great location. So here's an interesting part of it. Runway construction began on March 28th, 1928, with infill from dredging the Duwamish River. Great idea. Anyway, labor included sentenced prisoners, among whom were six men serving sentences as lazy husbands. Oh. Oh, wow. I thought that was hilarious. Um-

Reed: [20:35] That's so funny.

Christian: [20:36] The crazy thing is, by 1935, the US Bureau of Air Commerce had already begun to contemplate construction of a new super airport in the, in a different King County location, which was SeaTac, uh, because of the hazards posed by the high ridges, uh, to each side, but more to the east of Boeing Field, which is Beacon Hill. Next up on my list is the oldest park. Who would like to go first? Oh, I think you would, Reed.

Reed: [21:04] Gosh, well, in this beautiful city of ours, I mean, truly the entire Emerald City is a park, is it not?

Christian: [21:11] Aw. That's a great sentiment- … but probably t- untrue.

Reed: [21:16] Um, I'm gonna guess, is Alki Beach a park?

Christian: [21:19] Yeah, I think that's a

Reed: [21:20] park. I'm gonna guess Alki.

Christian: [21:22] Oh. Good guess. Good guess.

Reed: [21:23] Because that's where we, or where the-

Christian: [21:25] City was first founded … Reed: um, yeah, where the first landing was. Is it where the Native Americans- Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Good guess. All right. Uh, Les, what's your guess?

Les: [21:33] Ooh, uh, Denny Park.

Melanie: [21:38] Mm.

Christian: [21:38] Okay. Mel, what's yours?

Melanie: [21:41] I like Reed's answer, but I'm going with Denny.

Christian: [21:43] Hmm. Nick, what's your guess? It's totally Denny. Woo-hoo. Denny Park lies on pioneer David Denny's land claim, and was first donated to the city by Mr. Denny and his wife in 1864 as a cemetery. Interesting. In 1883- Great … they drew up a new deed rededicating most of the cemetery property to become a public park, and the grave sites were removed, uh, at the city's expense.

Nicholas: [22:12] Or so they say.

Melanie: [22:13] Eerie.

Christian: [22:14] Mm-hmm.

Melanie: [22:15] Nick, why don't you go find out? The ghost will probably find you.

Christian: [22:18] Yeah. Yeah.

Nicholas: [22:21] There you go. I'll go there tonight. I live just, like, I could walk there. So yeah- Mm-hmm … I should just walk there at night someday, see if I see the ghost.

Christian: [22:28] Mm-hmm. All right. The final brain buster that I have for you is about the oldest school. Les, what do you think the oldest school in Seattle is that's still in use today? Oh, gee.

Les: [22:41] Oh, it's still in use today? Mm-hmm. I'm gonna go ahead and say Ballard High School? Or Garfield. Good. Ooh, I don't know. Ballard.

Christian: [22:49] Ballard High School. Okay. Nick, what's your guess?

Nicholas: [22:51] Well, I don't know the oldest school as I bet there's an older elementary school, but I know, I'm sure the oldest high school is Garfield, so I'm gonna

Christian: [22:59] say

Nicholas: [22:59] Garfield. I

Christian: [23:00] didn't, I didn't say high school, but you can go with that. Read with your gut. Whoa. I was thinking elementary schools. Oldest school. Yeah. Okay. The University of Washington. University of Seattle. Oh. Ooh. Duh. That's a good one. Good one. Uh, Mel, what's your guess?

Melanie: [23:12] Oh, man. I mean, I'm not even copying you, Les, but Ballard's the only one I know of. Ooh, can I, can I- It's like 1901 … Les: can I change my answer?

Christian: [23:20] Sure.

Melanie: [23:21] Yes.

Les: [23:21] I'm gonna go with, ooh, it's one of the universities. Actually, no, U Dub, 'cause it's, like, 18-something. U Dub. I wanna go with that.

Christian: [23:28] It is actually B.F. Day Elementary School in Fremont. Ah. Oh, that makes

Nicholas: [23:32] sense. Okay, so it was in North Seattle. I grew up near there and I still didn't know. Okay.

Les: [23:37] Yeah. Well, you grew up everywhere, man.

Christian: [23:38] So today B.F. Day has the distinction of being the oldest continuingly, continually operating school in the Seattle School District. It's named B.F. Day after Benjamin Franklin Day, once him and his wife, Francis, paid for the thr- first three months' rent at a previous school building that was nearby. Later, they donated land off of their 160 acre claim in Fremont, uh, and donated that for the school, which is now where the school sits.

Fun fact: [24:08] the Fremont neighborhood was named after a town where? Anyone wanna guess? This is a, this is an additional- Oh.

Nicholas: [24:16] I know this one. California.

Christian: [24:18] California.

Reed: [24:19] New Hampshire. I, I don't, I don't know

Christian: [24:23] Okay

Nicholas: [24:24] Nebraska

Christian: [24:25] Yes It is really weird Fremont, Nebraska. So random.

Nicholas: [24:28] Because it's like- But it's named

Christian: [24:29] after them

Nicholas: [24:31] It's hippie central, and it's named after a town in Nebraska.

Christian: [24:34] Yes. The center of the universe was named after somewhere in Nebraska.

Reed: [24:38] And when was- Interesting … BFD started?

Christian: [24:41] 1892.

Reed: [24:42] Very cool. Okay.

Nicholas: [24:44] And Fremont was annexed to Seattle in 1891, I think.

Christian: [24:48] All right, Nick, you are the last one to go. What are your three or four places?

Nicholas: [24:53] All right. So the… I got, I got four places down. I, I had three, but I knew the answer to a fourth, so I wanted to include it, especially considering I told you guys the answer to one of, one of these not long ago. So let's see if you guys still remember.

Christian: [25:09] I'm sure we were all listening.

Nicholas: [25:13] Yeah. I talk a lot, so I'm sure that they heard it, but they don't remember what it was.

Christian: [25:20] Well, we'll, you're gonna put us to the test in a second.

Nicholas: [25:23] All right. So the first one I'm gonna start with, this one surprised me. As, I mean, the location of it surprised me. So if that's a hint, I don't know. The oldest house. Can you guys guess what is the oldest house in Seattle?

Reed: [25:37] Wow.

Nicholas: [25:38] Les.

Les: [25:39] Ooh, I'm gonna guess it's somewhere on to- um, oldest house. Somewhere on top of Queen Anne Good guess. I

Christian: [25:46] don't know. Yeah, good guess. Reed?

Reed: [25:49] I was also gonna guess something near Parson's Garden on Queen Anne.

Nicholas: [25:54] Okay. Christian?

Christian: [25:56] I am not going Queen Anne. Uh, I'm gonna go Alki, because that's- Ooh … that was the first settlement- That's smart … so I'm gonna guess something over there.

Reed: [26:04] Hmm.

Melanie: [26:04] Smart,

Nicholas: [26:05] Christian. Smart. That's a very good guess. Um, Nell?

Melanie: [26:08] Yeah, West Seattle.

Nicholas: [26:09] All right. The answer is not First Hill, it's not Capitol Hill, like, the areas I thought. I thought it was gonna be First Hill or Mount Baker or something, 'cause I've seen some old ones there.

Christian: [26:19] Very old houses, yeah.

Nicholas: [26:21] There's one near me on Capitol Hill that, like, if you Google oldest house in Seattle, it pops up from 1889. But the oldest house in Seattle is actually Doc Maynard's house-

Christian: [26:33] Hmm … Nicholas: in Alki. Ah. Oh,

Nicholas: [26:35] cool. Nice. Good job. Built in 1860. Yeah. Or approximately 1860. It's old enough they don't know how old it is exactly, but they said it was built between 1858 and 1862.

Reed: [26:45] Nice.

Christian: [26:46] Somewhere between 1968- … and 1970.

Nicholas: [26:50] And they… So it recently got purchased, um, by somebody who actually did a pretty thorough gutting renovation, which, you know, sad as it is considering it's really old, uh, and doesn't look really exactly like it used to, it still maintains the same shape, and they did a really good job with the renovation, I think. Um, but online it now says, like on Redfin it says that it's built in 2018 or something, and Zillow- Hmm … says 1900. But nope, it was built in 1860. And- Mm … uh, is still standing, even though- That's cool … it looks a lot newer now.

Christian: [27:26] Cool.

Nicholas: [27:28] And it belonged to Doc Maynard after his house, his mansion in Alki burned down. He built this new house. I don't know how that burned down, like, you know, 20 years, 30 years before the Great Seattle Fire, but yeah. Anyway.

Christian: [27:42] It was the Great, Great M- Doc Maynard Fire.

Nicholas: [27:44] Yep, the Great Doc Maynard Fire of Alki. Way before Pioneer Square- … became a thing, Alki burned too apparently. Mm-hmm. Apparently.

Christian: [27:51] So- Or just his house.

Nicholas: [27:52] Yeah, I guess just his house, yeah. Next up I have the oldest seafood restaurant, which I will preface this with I could not get a good answer from this, and I was… I tried to contact some historical, um, preservation organizations about this, and I never got a definitive answer. So take this with a grain of salt. But I do think- Okay … I found it. Okay. Any guesses? Christian?

Christian: [28:18] I would go with something in Pike Place Market. Uh, but I do not know… I can't even think of any of the names of the restaurants there. Um, I'll just say somewhere in there. I don't know.

Nicholas: [28:29] All right. And, uh, Mel?

Reed: [28:31] Is it Shuckers? Shuckers?

Nicholas: [28:33] That's a pretty good guess. Uh, Rhi?

Reed: [28:35] I know this is wrong, but I love it anyway. I'm gonna say Ivar's.

Les: [28:41] Ooh, you took my answer.

Nicholas: [28:42] All right. And, uh, Wes?

Les: [28:44] That's a good one. I was gonna say Ivar's and- And/or Salty's.

Nicholas: [28:50] All right. The- the answer, Shuckers is a really good guess. It… Uh, they claim to be the oldest oyster bar, or at least one of the oldest. Uh, but the oldest- That I could find was the Athenian in Pike Place Market, also featured in Sleepless in Seattle.

Melanie: [29:08] Okay. Oh, never heard of

Nicholas: [29:10] it. So Christian was closest.

Christian: [29:12] I, I had never heard of the restaurant, but I guessed the location.

Nicholas: [29:14] I hadn't either- Oh, nice … but yes, it's in Pike Place Market. Yeah. All right. The oldest house of worship. This is one that I just happen to know, and it's kind of there's two answers to it, uh, and I'll take either of them and I'll tell you why afterwards. Can anybody guess the oldest house of worship?

Christian: [29:34] I'm gonna say that big old church thing overlooking, uh, South Lake Union and, and Lake Union and stuff on the hill there. Oh, St. Mark's

Nicholas: [29:42] Cathedral? St.

Christian: [29:42] Mark's. Yeah, I'm gonna go with that.

Les: [29:44] St. James. St. James Cathedral, First Hill? Yeah, yeah. I don't know what it's called, but it's in the Central District. Yeah.

Reed: [29:50] I'm gonna guess there's an really old-looking interfaith community church here in Ballard. I believe it's on 62nd, really close to where we just had a listing. Ooh. I'm gonna guess that place.

Nicholas: [30:02] So St. Mark's Cathedral is a very good guess- Mm-hmm … because one of the two answers is the parent church of St. Mark's, the congregation that founded St. Mark's. So the church that was the parent church of St. Mark's Cathedral, uh, was Trinity Parish Episcopal Church. It is one of the church- one of the congregations that has a claim to this, the other being First Church in Uptown, which used to be First United Methodist. The reason why they share this claim is that First Church, when it

Christian: [30:36] was

Nicholas: [30:36] first- Has

Christian: [30:36] the name First Church,

Nicholas: [30:38] duh. Well, yeah. I know, right? Yeah. Well, it's, uh, but it was when it was founded as First United Methodist it was the oldest church in Seattle, and its old building downtown, uh, is the oldest church building. However, the church building is no longer used as a church and they've moved from downtown to uptown and changed their name. So the oldest church that still exists under its original name is Trinity Parish on First Hill, which also is the oldest church building in Seattle that's been continually used as a church and used by its original congregation. Um, so it's, yeah, so it's kind of both. It's more First Church than Trinity, but Trinity does still have- I'm gonna give

Christian: [31:27] it to First Church based on their name alone, so-

Nicholas: [31:29] Yeah … Speaker: that's my answer. It's true. Yes. So to wrap up this podcast we, uh, we'll end with something that it's the oldest gay bar. So the oldest existing gay bar was really hard to pin down, but since the oldest gay bar in the United States- Was founded in Seattle and existed until its closure in the mid-2010s. I wanna see if you guys remember what that bar was, and it's a hint, it was actually in Pioneer Square. Can you guys remember the name of that bar?

Reed: [32:05] I'm gonna guess the Wild Rose Bar on Capitol Hill. Um, I know that that's wrong, but it is the oldest by virtue of being the only lesbian bar-

Christian: [32:15] Mm … Reed: um, in Seattle, so.

Nicholas: [32:18] That is a very good point.

Reed: [32:19] That's my guess. Mm-hmm. I know I'm wrong. I can't remember what you, uh, had told us about that- I think you said- … spot in Pioneer Square.

Nicholas: [32:25] The oldest gay bar in the United States that was in Seattle until its closure in the mid-2010s was called the Double Header.

Christian: [32:34] Ah.

Reed: [32:34] Wow.

Nicholas: [32:35] The Elite Tavern was the first one on Capitol Hill. It's also gone, but that one had an interesting history of being bombed by neo-Nazis and- Oh, geez … all this kind of stuff. Um-

Christian: [32:48] Oh my God.

Melanie: [32:48] Wow. That's all bad.

Nicholas: [32:50] But, um, yeah.

Christian: [32:51] All right. That was super fun. I now have so many more answers to Seattle trivia than I think I'll ever need, uh, a lot of it thanks to Nick and your extended, uh, history lessons on almost every single question. Good job, Nick. Woo.

Nicholas: [33:04] Thank you. Amazing.

Christian: [33:04] Um, a Seattle native, one of the three of us, uh, and he has way more knowledge than I have. If you liked this episode, you should definitely subscribe to our podcast here, Awesome in Seattle. We have 82 episodes and counting, and we've released a new one every other Thursday without fail for the last three-plus years, and we don't stop, um, we don't plan on stopping anytime soon. So if you like our style and you're thinking about buying or selling a house in the Seattle metro area, we would love to chat with you. To schedule a free, no-obligation, no-pressure Zoom call with us, you can do so right on our website. It's very easy, AwesomeNossumGroup.com/schedule. Super simple. Uh, we look forward to chatting with you. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. We'll see you next time.

Reed: [33:54] Bye.