
The Blue Moon is a
tavern
A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...
located on the west edge of the
University District in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
, United States.
History
The tavern provided a haven for UW professors who were caught up in the
McCarthyist purge, such as Joe Butterworth, who used the bar as his writing desk. Its heyday continued into the 1950s and 1960s.
History: founders story
The Blue Moon Tavern opened in April 1934 with the original owner Henry "Hank" John Reverman in
Seattle, Washington. After much convincing Hank was able to utilized his college fund to open a bar at the age of twenty one.
Upon completion of the prohibition era, the Blue Moon Tavern was one of the first bars that forcefully crossed racial barriers and has remained successful over the years. Hank owned the bar for a few years and soon left for the military where he became a pilot.
A popular story claims that sometime in the late 1960s, Tom Robbins tried to call the artist
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
in Barcelona from a pay phone at the Blue Moon Tavern. Supposedly, Robbins got through to Picasso, but the artist refused to accept the overseas collect calling charges.
The Blue Moon declined in the 1970s. Efforts to "redevelop" the property in 1989 were derailed by community activists led by
Walt Crowley
Walter Charles Crowley (June 20, 1947 – September 21, 2007) was an American historian and activist from Washington state. He first entered the public sphere in Seattle through his involvement with the social and political movements of the 1960s, ...
; however, an attempt in 1990 to gain landmark status failed. Developers spared the tavern after landmark status was denied. The Blue Moon remains one of the few surviving blue-collar landmarks in Seattle.
[ ][ ]
Crowley referenced Walt Crowley (1992). ''Forever Blue Moon, The Story of Seattle's Most (In)Famous Tavern'' (Seattle: Blue Moon).
In 1995, the alley to the west of the Blue Moon was named Roethke Mews in honor of the bar's famous patron Theodore Roethke. The business has been described as a
dive bar
A dive bar is typically a small, unglamorous, eclectic, old-style drinking establishment with inexpensive drinks; it may feature dim lighting, shabby or dated decor, neon beer signs, packaged beer sales, cash-only service, and local clientele. ...
.
See also
*
List of dive bars
While the definition of a "dive bar" varies, the following is a list of notable establishments which have been described as such. A dive bar is typically a small, unglamorous, eclectic, old-style drinking establishment with inexpensive drinks; ...
*
Public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
*
University District
References
External links
*
Blue Moon Tavern pageat the Stan Iverson Memorial Archives
A tour of the Blue Moon by Novelist-in-Residence Emeritus James Knisely
{{Coord, 47.6615, -122.32, region:US-WA_type:landmark, display=title
Tourist attractions in Seattle
Restaurants in University District, Seattle
1934 establishments in Washington (state)
Dive bars in Washington (state)
Restaurants established in 1934