Seattle’s longest-running bar is set to close its doors at the end of the year. The historic site is known for its ghost stories, pressed-tin ceiling, and buckboard floors in the heart of Pioneer Square. There are murmurs the bar could reopen after a renovation in spring, but that’s still uncertain.
In the Merchant’s basement, daylight shines down through the small purple glass windows in the sidewalk above. The city’s oldest saloon sits at a main intersection of the city’s oldest neighborhood, forever tied to Seattle’s history.
First opened in 1890 before moving to its current spot in 1907, Merchant’s originally offered gambling and a brothel during Seattle’s early gritty days. Bartenders there say the current owners plan to close the bar next week.
“I had to let everyone go, it was pretty sudden,” says Anthony Powell, a supervisor and manager at Merchant’s. “I just told everyone: ‘work ‘til the end of the year and that’s it.’”
One bartender who got hired less than six months ago says he got almost no notice that Friday would be his last shift. That’s the nature of the business, he shrugged.