First peek at the peak

Nov. 19, 2018

For the first time in the 61-year history of the old Timbear Cafe building, it will no longer have a flat roof.

It never fails to mystify me why anyone would ever have a flat roof in this part of the world in the first place.

Personally I will miss seeing all those plastic tarps flying around in the wind atop the derelict structure, it had a certain kind of beauty. But I suppose this sort of retrofitting is good for the town so I won't complain.

Timbear interior these days

Oct. 23, 2018

The interior of the former Timbear restaurant. After years of being derelict, the roof has been removed and the building will be reborn into another use.

Path through the Pines

Aug. 7, 2018.

This path on the SW corner of Maple and Main goes through the Pines. But where are trees, you might ask.

The Pines was a name applied by Cal Clark in the 1950s to the final incarnation of one of the old-time two-story false buildings in downtown McCleary until it was closed by the IRS who padlocked the doors and then later burned (allegedly by kids playing with matches) after being abandoned for a few years in the 1980s.

On this lot at different times in history was a gathering spot for the local Greeks, it was also a house of prostitution upstairs, a topless bar in the 1960s, a family restaurant, a meeting spot for labor agitators in the 1920s-1930s, and a card room where Cecil "Primo" Boling was the dealer with his giant hands.

I recall watching the high flames shoot up from the roof which pretty much gutted the place. The burned out derelict remained standing for far too long as a wrecked reminder of McCleary's colorful past.

The former Timbear Cafe stands across Maple St.

Indoor swimming pool!

Mar. 11, 2018

The Maple Street view of the former Timbear Cafe, opened ca. 1957 and in operation as a restaurant under various names for a few decades before ending up as a second hand store.

Before there was Grays Harbor Transit there was Washington Coast Lines and this Maple Street corner was their main McCleary stop.

This structure is now for sale and as you can see by the roofing it comes by default with its own indoor swimming pool.

Golden Rule Store

Aug. 6, 2017

This vacant lot on Main Street was once the site of the Golden Rule Store operated by Anthony (1908-1960) and Azizeh (1915-2001) Souda otherwise known as Tony and Z.Z. The wooden structure was still standing until the mid-1960s. The empty building on the left was originally the Timbear Cafe, constructed ca. 1957.

Jake Anderson's gate

Sept. 5, 2016. A surly Norwegian bachelor named Jake Anderson owned everything west of current day 4th Street before Henry McCleary arrived. Anderson lived at the top of the "T" at 5th and Oak, and was known to use a boat to get around the cedar swamp that is now the filled-in downtown area. The gate to Anderson's digs was here, on this northernmost block of Main St.

Until recently, the spot where Anderson's gate stood was marked on the sidewalk, but a redo of the area wiped that out. This particular side of the block has been home to some iconic McCleary business establishments in the past: Timbear Cafe, Golden Rule Store, the office of Dr. James Arima, Hankinson Jewelry, Porter Hotel, a movie theater, Pastime Pool Hall, McCleary Pharmacy, just to name a few.

Transit Station

Apr. 21, 2013.

In the past decades the public transit bus did not come to McCleary. A commercial outfit called Washington Coast Lines with a Greyhound style bus stopped next to the Timbear Cafe on the corner of Maple and Main (currently a 2nd hand store).

This Grays Harbor Transit station on Third St. is in an area where a gas station once stood.