Slip back into the 1930s at the Java Jive in Tacoma. Back in the years when State Route 99 (or Highway 99 as the locals know it) was the main highway that could be traveled in a north/south direction to between Blaine, Washington and Calexico, California until 1964 when the interstate highway system was built and Interstate 5 became the major arterial. Along a section of Highway 99 in Tacoma, sits a remnant of that older, slower era, the Java Jive. A longtime Puget Sound landmark, it was built in 1927, it is 25 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter and has been remodeled a number of times. When owned by Bob and Lylabell Radonich, having bought the place in 1955, they gave it a Polynesian theme with a Jungle Room and two monkeys living there named ‘Java and Jive.’ In 1998 the building barely averted damage in a fire that gutted the apartment building behind it, but it did survive and looked trashy (as in this photo), but in 2010 received a new coat of paint, still following the red, white and blue theme. Java Jive in on the National Register of Historic Places, so the outside must remain true to its original color and appearance. Bob passed away in 2003, his daughter Danette Staatz owns the bar these days, where regulars like to sip on a cool beer and visit.
A fun find for coffee lovers! I just hope the coffee and treats options are yummy!
Happy Sunday, Madge!
I have an idea that the coffee one would buy here would be the kind that would sit and ‘cook’ all day on a hot plate! Not too tasty…
I Love this! I am surprised it is a bar though! Thought it would be a coffee shop/breakfast spot.
It has always been a bar, a roadhouse is just an old term for a tavern…
What a cute little place! I am also surprised that it is a bar. I saw the word Java and immediately thought coffee. Plus, coffee and tea come out of teapots, not beer. LOL! I wonder how many little old ladies have tried to go in there for an afternoon of tea and crumpets?
It IS cute… at one time (20s, 30s and 40s mostly) establishments were built in shapes of things, coffee pots being one. There is also a little gas station in Yakima that is of the same era and it is a coffee pot too… I’m not sure how many lil’ol ladies would go in looking for afternoon tea lol!
I hope they serve Guinness!
Cheap beer would be my guess!
Very cool photo and text to go with it!
Thanks Lynette!
what a lovely looking place it looks
There aren’t many of these old roadhouses left… nostalgic, isn’t it?
Awesome! amazing the sites and places that remain once you get off the interstate.
Rob..I agree, driving the interstate may be more expediditious, it is anything but interesting ..so much more to see when not whizzing by at 60 mph!