| 1901 |
Englishman Ben Atkinson built a three-story hotel, café and saloon with the money he made in the gold fields of the Alaskan Yukon. The 60-room hotel was upstairs with the café and saloon located on the bottom floor. The saloon was the watering hole of many coal miners and brick factory workers.
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| 1918 |
Prohibition did not diminish the popularity of the Melrose. It flourished as a pool hall, card room and soda parlor.
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| 1928 |
Fire leveled the top two floors and a portion of the bottom level of the Melrose. Fortunately the saloon remained intact including the mirrored back bar which remains today in the Melrose.
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| 1939 |
Robert Dobson purchased the bar from Ben’s son, George Atkinson.
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| 1946 |
Jimy Nattucici and Tim Bertozzi purchased and operated the tavern.
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| 1972 |
Nattucici sold the Melrose to famed local boxer Boone Kirkman. Boone added a sparring ring as well as his practice bag to the décor of the tavern. The Melrose overflowed when Boone’s fights were televised.
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| 1997 |
Armondo Pavone, Tim and Kimberly Searing, and Charles and Beverly Keeslar, purchased the building from Louie Barei.
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| 2002 |
The Melrose Grill opened on January 13, 2002. One of the first Renton Restaurants is reborn!
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