The Jesters Bar

Kenck & Company Saloon / King & Nuss Grocers (200-202 North Rodney)

In the wake of disastrous fires of the previous decade, brick buildings like

this mid-1880s combination business and rooming house gradually displaced less

substantial frame constructions. F. J. Kenck’s saloon originally shared space

with King and Nuss’s grocery/feed store, while second-floor furnished rooms

helped alleviate a housing shortage. In 1918, Prohibition interrupted the saloon

business until 1939, when new owner Frank Jester opened his tavern. Today this

refined Italianate style building, with its flat roof, bracketed cornice, arched
windows, and thirteen interior chimneys, continues to serve its intended

function, recalling the neighborhood prosperity that followed on the heels of

the Northern Pacific Railroad.