The original saloon on this site burned on January 13, 1897 as a result of a fire in the adjacent Coulter Hotel. The saloon owner Louis Levaggi, erected the present building the same year for 13,000. It was known as the "Metropolitan." The back bar and counter were purchased from a saloon in Hornitas, Ca. Levaggi paid for the building in one year by selling 86,670 shots of whiskey at 15 cents per shot. The saloon catered mainly to miners and workers on the La Grange Dam, but has always been a place where all are welcome.

A patron said, "I feel we are so lucky to live near a town you can visit and see how it looked 100 years ago. You step into a building that looks, smells and feels much the same as it did during the Gold Rush."

Previous Owners were the Levaggi, Mallosetti, Mullins families and MTC. It is currently owned by Jim and Dee Duarte.

Jesse Passalaqua
Noble Grand Humbug 6006
Estanislao Chapter No. 58
E Clampus Vitus

Dedicated April 21, 2001
What Say the Brethren
"Satisfactory"