Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Dawson bars




we’ve discovered the infamous “Pit”, which despite its ominous name is really just a run-down bar in the middle of town, with all kinds of paintings, classic little glasses of beer and a pool table shimmied up with different wedges of wood in an effort to keep the surface level in a very crooked old hotel building. Slightly more upscale is the saloon at the Downtown hotel, which also has a pool table. But I’m looking forward to visiting Bombay Peggy’s, a 1901 hotel bar which previous writers have advertised as the best place in town. It’s named for Margaret Vera Dorval, who ran a bootlegging business and brothel in the building in the 1950s. The current owners bought Bombay Peggy’s in 1998, moved it from the swampy end of town where it was (many of Dawson’s historic buildings have been dragged into better locations, as the town has shrunk), and added a back section, making the house large enough for a hotel and thus legal as a drinking establishment. I particularly like this photo, from its big move.

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