Location: 113 4th Ave W
National Downtown Historic District, Diversity: Jewish heritage, Women’s History, Popular Culture, Transportation
Cohen’s confectionary, photo courtesy of Washington State Historical Society |
New Moon Cafe (Red Top Taxi building) today (2012) photograph by |
Annie and Barney Cohen operated the confectionary/pool hall at this location in the early 20th century, and lived above the store. It was one of many small, family-owned businesses that stretched westwards from the center of town towards the Fourth Avenue bridge. The photograph at above left was one of the series taken by photographer Robert Esterly in 1914, cataloguing the businesses of Olympia and their owners.
Some time later, the building was demolished, and the current brick building was erected in 1948. It housed the Red Top Taxi and also the Trailways Bus station. The building currently houses a small cafe and is well maintained. Its west side once sported one of the several graffiti murals in downtown Olympia, now obscured by the erection of an apartment building next door.
Additional links:
National Downtown Historic District
Washington State Historical Society photograph (enter the following catalog numbers in Collections Search box): 2010.149.6.1
Copyright © 2022 Deborah Ross