Wallyhood heard the claim made that Tweedy and Popp, opened in 1920, is the oldest continuously operated business in Seattle. Always one to check our facts, we decided to ask The Google. Unfortunately, there seem to be a handful of better placed claimants dating back to the 1860’s, with the now doomed Seattle Post-Intelligencer ultimately taking the prize (1867). The oldest business in Wallingford, then.
As long as we’re dispelling myths, we had also been told Murphy’s Pub was one of the oldest bars in Seattle, part of a trio that opened when Prohibition was repealed in 1933 (The Buckaroo and the Blue Moon being the other two).
Also poppycock, apparently. Murphy’s own web site declares its founding to be 1981 (and the Buck 1938), but the HistoryLink web site does provide a complete and beautifully told history of the Blue Moon Tavern in the neighboring U District. It was founded in 1934, after Prohibition, and was situated the precise one mile from the University required by law, making it an instant hit with students. In its time, it slaked the thirsts of the likes of Richard Hugo, Dylan Thomas, Allen Ginsberg and that guy with the sign by the highway exit.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the founder of the Blue Moon, Hank Reverman, passed away last month. The P-I, facing the Grim Reaper itself, has a nice piece on remembrances.
And, actually (sorry Tweedy & Popp), the Durn Good grocery, now at 40th & Wallingford Ave may take the title for Wallingford's oldest. According to History Link, it opened where Irwin's is now, in 1912.
Tweedy and Popp is the oldest Wallingford business but isn’t the oldest business in Wallingford. How so? Tweedy and Popp started in Wallingford in 1920 and has always been a Wallingford business. Swanson’s Shoe Repair, started out in the early 1900’s but did not move into Wallingford until the late 1920’s.