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Community Corner

The Eagle Cafe, An Early Twentieth Century Landmark

One of a number of businesses serving travelers through Edmonds, the Eagle Cafe at the foot of Main Street offered rest and food to visitors, mill workers and business travelers.

From its earliest days, Edmonds' front door was the wharf at the foot of Main Street.

George Brackett made his legendary landing just a stone’s throw away and . When he platted the town in 1884, he immodestly chose to name the town’s main street after himself, George Street, but within ten years it was renamed Main Street.

Subsequent years saw the Minneapolis Realty and Investment Company speculate heavily in Edmonds. They built a and a larger deep-water wharf, and steamers plying the waters of Puget Sound stopped regularly to take on and discharge passengers.

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Overextended, the company lost its Edmonds holdings in the panic of the 1890's. The City of Edmonds subsequently took over the wharf adding a number of improvements and upgrades. As City Wharf it continued as the main port of entry to Edmonds.

By the early years of the twentieth century, were operating day and night, bringing unprecedented prosperity to the young city. The prospect of jobs lured workers to Edmonds, investment opportunities drew business travelers, and the chance for a quality life in a beautiful location tempted families to relocate. And all of them arrived at the foot of Main Street.

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These years saw a number of businesses spring up adjacent to the wharf to provide the traveling public with meals, lodging and other services. One of these, the Eagle Cafe located on the southeast corner of First Avenue (now Edmonds Way) and Main Street, offered turn-of-the-century travelers hearty meals at a reasonable price.

The pushed activity at the foot of Main Street to new heights. Scores of autos would line up on busy weekends, their occupants buying food and travel supplies from local merchants and adding money to the local economy.

Roads leading to Edmonds were not what they are today, and for many the trip to the ferry landing could be arduous, frequently turning an excursion to and from the Olympic Peninsula into a two-day affair. Many travelers chose to spend the night near the ferry landing, and demand for rooms and meals frequently outstripped supply.

In December 1928, Eagle Cafe owner W.H. Wilson decided to expand to meet this need. He began construction of a new restaurant and hotel adjacent to the Eagle. It opened on February 2, 1929 as the Edmonds Hotel. Providing meals and 11 hotel rooms, the business quickly became a landmark at the foot of Main Street.

Wilson operated the business for a number of years. He eventually sold the hotel to John Yost, and it became the newest addition to the growing number of Yost family enterprises. In May, 1941, Margaret Caldwell of Anacortes leased the business from the Yost family. She remained only until October of that year, when a new arrival from Montana, J.J. O’Connor, took over the lease. Shortly before the end of World War II, Mr. and Mrs. D.A. McFarland bought the Edmonds Hotel and remodeled it.

Even before World War II the foot of Main Street had passed its heyday as the gateway to Edmonds. Improved roads and the increasing dominance of the automobile meant fewer travelers in need of accommodations in Edmonds. While the Edmonds Hotel persisted for a number of years, the decrease in customers led it to close, and the building was eventually torn down.

Today, the site of the original Eagle Cafe is taken over by the ferry holding lanes. The adjacent Edmonds Hotel site is now occupied by the 110 Main Street building, offering both office and condominium units. Built in 1996, it reflects the evolution of this corner of Edmonds from its days as a busy gateway to a young energetic city to the mixed use business and residential neighborhood of today.

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