Local landmark
Jack and Dan’s, the North Side bar that is as sacred in Spokane as the saloonkeeper’s son, is on tap for a prestigious honor. Owner Jack Stockton, father of former NBA All-Star John Stockton, and partner Jeff Condill are seeking to have their business placed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places. If the nomination is accepted, the 96-year-old building will join the white-linen crowd of the Davenport Hotel, Patsy Clark Mansion, Glover Mansion and dozens of other landmark buildings the Spokane City Council has accepted into the historic registry since the program’s inception in 1964.
“I hardly think I belong in that group, but the building does,” said Stockton, who bought the bar in 1961.
Historic preservationist and consultant Jim Kolva presented information to the city’s Landmarks Commission at its September meeting. The commission requested more details to justify its historic importance, and Kolva is scheduled to return at the monthly meeting Wednesday .
Kolva said he will focus on “getting them (committee) over the idea that an addition was put on the building.”
The original two-story building was a flat-brick façade with four window bays. A one-story brick addition was put on the back in 1922. However, the addition being scrutinized is a one-story concrete extension in the front that was constructed in 1952, enlarging University Pharmacy, at the time, and the tavern. The addition passes the historical registry’s first rule – being at least 50 years old. However, Kolva said the committee feels the addition compromises the original integrity of the building.
Jack and Dan’s, 1226 N. Hamilton St., has been called Jack and Dan’s Tavern since the 1970s. For legal reasons, the name was changed to Jack and Dan’s Bar and Grill when the owners started serving hard liquor, after they bought the pharmacy and expanded in October 2004.
Kolva said he also plans to give the board more details regarding how sports figures have had a direct association with Jack and Dan’s. Aside from basketball and John Stockton, who is listed as the property owner, Jack and Dan’s has a rich history in boxing. The late Joey August, boxing coach at Gonzaga University until the school dropped the sport in 1952, owned the bar before Jack Stockton and his first partner Dan Crowley bought it.
“There is so much history here. So many people have come through here,” Stockton said.
Sports Illustrated magazine also named Jack and Dan’s one of the top 25 sports bars in the country earlier this year. However, national high-fives regarding ambience and beer varieties don’t convert into bonus points with the Landmarks Commission. But the bar does have a streak as impressive as the consecutive games played record held by retired baseball great Cal Ripken Jr.
Jack and Dan’s, known by a few different names over the years, has operated continuously since beer permits were issued for Snappy Beer Parlor (original name) in 1933.
Kolva said his research shows it appears the only other bars in the city of Spokane that have remained in business since then with the same addresses are: Capital Beer Parlor, 5015 N. Market St. (now Capital Tavern); Glass Front Beer Parlor, 2926 N. Monroe St. (now Hub Tavern); Knight Beer Parlor 606 W. Second Ave. (now Cozy Inn Tavern); and White Front, 1817 N. Division St. (now One Bridge North).
Jack and Dan’s building has been on the corner of Sharp and Hamilton since 1909. From 1915 until December 2003, the north half of the Jack and Dan’s building was used as a pharmacy. Before the south half became a post-Prohibition watering hole, it was a grocery store/meat market. The second floor remains apartments, once lived in by the pharmacists.
Longtime Logan neighborhood resident Jack Stockton is as much a part of the corner of Sharp and Hamilton as the building. The patriarch of business, who will be 78 next month, still works full time. Many days, he works double shifts.
“I was raised in this neighborhood,” Stockton said one day from his bar. “Anything that happens in my neighborhood is good, except rebuilding.”