Over the past two weeks, this column detailed the early history of the Naches Tavern operated in Greenwater, located along State Route 410, east of Enumclaw and north of Crystal Mountain. Back when Captain Dick Craine operated the first Naches Tavern, Prohibition was in full swing meaning alcoholic beverages couldn’t legally be served. Craine’s Naches Tavern was primarily a lodge that included rooms, home-cooked meals, and a large lobby where the Captain displayed his Indian curio gallery. Historically, taverns were more like inns or resting places serving food and providing lodging, than the modern version developed at the end of Prohibition when taverns chiefly serve beer.
The original log-cabin structure burned down in Feb. 1940 and was replaced by the current building seen in this photo taken about a decade later. According to the July 5, 1940, Enumclaw Courier-Herald, Stanley Narozny Jr., then manager of the café and tavern announced the grand opening. This photo #3361 by J. Boyd Ellis is from the early 1950s was used for postcards, which businesses like the Naches Café & Tavern sold to visiting tourists. Today’s Naches Bar & Grill is still housed in this same 1940 structure which remains remarkably the same 82 years later. This image comes courtesy of JoAnne Matsumura, an Issaquah historian and collector. Matsumura also provided research into Craine’s ownership, plus info about the post card business operated by J. Boyd Ellis and later by his son, Clifford.
