How do you get into The Observatory?
We have not confirmed it. The Observatory is in the directory because it calls itself a speakeasy, and that is the whole of what we can stand behind about its door.
Drinks of the era
We have not seen this venue’s own list, so what follows is the period rather than the bar: Sazerac, Ward Eight, and Scofflaw are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
The building
Documented — The Observatory occupies the Columbia Building, a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places under reference number 100004960. The listing is a federal record maintained by the National Park Service, and the nomination document is the primary source for the building’s architectural and social history.
National Register reference 100004960 · NPS nomination document
Where The Observatory sits
The Observatory is in Spokane, Washington, in the county of the same name, in the West of the United States.
Our directory currently lists two speakeasies and hidden bars in Spokane — too few for a city guide of its own yet, so they sit on the Washington page until there are more.
Measured from the map pins, the closest of those to The Observatory are Gilded Unicorn, about 450 m away.
Washington holds 29 listed venues in this directory. See them all on our Washington speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in Washington
Washington did not wait for the federal government. Statewide prohibition took effect here in 1916, four years before the Eighteenth Amendment came into force nationally on 17 January 1920. By the time the Volstead Act was being enforced across the country, Washington already had an established illegal trade and the habits that went with it.
More on the period in our history of Prohibition in Washington.
What the newspapers recorded in Washington
Searching the Library of Congress run of Washington newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from Washington:
- The Leavenworth echo, January 16, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The Seattle star, January 23, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The Seattle star, August 3, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The Seattle star, November 19, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
You can reach The Observatory by phone on (509) 598-8933 and through its own website.
The address is 15 S Howard St, Spokane, WA 99201. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For The Observatory we hold street address, telephone number, official website, and a listed-building record. We do not yet hold social accounts, opening hours, a published drinks list, or an online booking link.
It is in the directory because the description in the source data describes it as a speakeasy.
Overture Maps carries this venue; OpenStreetMap has no matching record.
The source data classifies the premises as a bar.