Left - Eggiman Tavern in1933, L-R, Ruth, Alycia and Ruth Eggimann
Mt. Vernon Taverns
Saloons and taverns have always been a part of Mt. Vernon. Orne Cobblewig once tended bar, and the Hotel De Allen had a saloon. Mt. Vernon, like most towns, has had its share of occasional rowdiness due to the over-indulgement of spirits. One night in the early days of Mt. Vernon a casket maker by the name of Hobbinger after drinking too much was taken by his buddies and laid out to sleep it off inside one of his own coffins. Another story is told of a dance at the mill in 1887 after a day of cleaning out the mill chase. A brute by the name of "Big Halvor" bolstered by liquor picked a fight with some of the other men. Mr. Halvor ended the fight by throwing many of his opponents into the mill run.
Around the turn of the century the drinking emporiums of the town were temporarily shut down. The daughter of the town chairman took a dislike to the saloons in town. She let her father, Mr. Bang know that if he did not rid the town of the saloons he was not worthy of the title of father. Chairman Bang drew up a petition at the Spring election and the village was voted dry for awhile.
During the national prohibition years, 1920 to 1933, Mt. Vernon was not entirely without its drink. Local bootleggers would traffic home brew and moonshine into the community. Ruth Bolliger remembers the day prohibition was repealed. "Beer was brought into my mothers restaurant. We had no way to cool it except to ice it down in washtubs. Our little restaurant was suddenly a tavern, and that day would prove to be one of our busiest."
The tavern and restaurant named "Eggimann's," started by Louisa Eggimann in part of her husband's garage in 1932, was in service until 1962 when it was sold to Virgil and Millie Ketelboeter. Virgil and Millie operated "Virgil's Valley Inn" until 1976. It was then sold to Dick Miller, Jack Kelly and Rick Duerst who ran "DJ's Tavern". DJ's changed hands in 1981, and the new owners, Wally and Juanita Anderson have operated "J & W's Bar and Grill" for the past 15 years. Wally says that "good foods and good times are their specialties."
The corner bar operating in Mt. Vernon today, "BJ's Tavern", operated by Bill and Jean Krough has a colorful past too. The building in it's early years housed a cheese maker, Harry Watt. It was a rooming house at one time and served as a shop for Mt. Vernon's earliest barber, Otto Hacker. In 1938, Andy Nelson bought the building and for a while ran a small store until he bought the Koch Brothers store from Ilow Peterson in 1942. Eli Kobberbig purchased the building and it has since been a tavern. Vic and Esther Torterice ran "Vic and Esthers" and Mel and Bernice Westby leased the business for 2 years from 1951 until 1952. In 1954, Leonard and Audrey Marty bought the building and ran "Marty's Bar" for the next 24 years. The tavern has since been leased by Herbert and Hilda Halverson who ran "3-H's" from 1956 to 1958, Gene and Gladys Meister who ran "Meister's Bar" from 1965 to 1968, and Frank Kanciaski who had "Franks Four Corners Bar." In 1970 the Martys sold the tavern to Lester and Alycia (Eggimann) Shutvet who operated "The Poorhouse Tavern" until 1978. Donald (Doc) and Francis Way bought the business in 1978 and operated "Doc's" until 1981 when he sold the tavern to La Verne (Sparky) Herman. Sparky still owns the building and leases it to his daughter Jean and her husband Bill Krough.