成人X站

UPDATE 12/30/24 at 4:15 p.m.: A recent report from and a that Merchant鈥檚 Caf茅 in Seattle鈥檚 Pioneer Square neighborhood is closing on New Year鈥檚 Eve is incorrect, according to the bar.

Merchant鈥檚 Cafe is simply closing for renovations, where they will be upgrading bathrooms, piping and electrical. They hope to reopen by March 1.

ORIGINAL STORY

Merchant’s Caf茅 in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood is reportedly closing on New Year’s Eve, according to information the history group 聽posted late Friday .

The building, at 109 Yesler Way, dates to around 1890 鈥� after the Great Seattle Fire 鈥� and is believed to be the longest continuously operated restaurant and watering hole in the city. What remains unclear is whether the building itself is threatened, or if another operator might take over the space and resume similar operations.

Merchant鈥檚 Caf茅 is saturated with Seattle history. It was in that same spot, in an earlier structure which stood on the site, where the one and only photograph of Chief Seattle was created by Edward Sammis in 1865.

Stories of what has taken place inside the current three-story building over the past 130 years are a big part of its charm, and play a significant role in how current operator Darcy Hanson promotes the restaurant and bar, as well as the rooms for rent upstairs. Those upstairs rooms reportedly housed sex workers for decades in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.

“A lot of stuff in here is original,” Hanson told 成人X站 Newsradio on a tour of the second floor in January. Hanson pointed out dull brass hardware attached to the side of the door frame which still opens and closes the transom window above the door.

“It’s original, a lot of this, in all these apartments,” Hanson said.

While the structure is not designated as an official City of Seattle landmark, it is located within the , which offers some regulatory protection should the building鈥檚 owner seek to make significant changes, up to and including demolition.

Merchant Caf茅鈥檚 historic significance is . However, as recent decisions by the City of Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board about Memorial Stadium and by the City of Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections about the old Mama鈥檚 Mexican Kitchen have shown, historic significance in Seattle often results in only a readily dispatched minor regulatory nuisance for a building’s owner, and what amounts to a performative delay in demolition proceedings.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Feliks Banel has served as 成人X站 Newsradio鈥檚 Resident Historian since 2015, and was originally hired by the radio station in 1991. Read more from Feliks here; subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast here; and subscribe to Feliks’ Unsolved Histories podcast . Feliks frequently posts about Northwest history on his Facebook page; for previews and updates. If you have a story idea or a question about Northwest history, please email Feliks.