In 1985, Ronald Reagan was President, Mikhail Gorbachev took power in the Soviet Union, Nintendo released “Super Mario Bros., and Live Aid raised $50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
In Conshohocken, developer Ray Weinmann and his partner were looking to purchase a bar/restaurant. They eventually focused on the old fire house behind the Washington Fire Company. That property ended up in a 20+ year lawsuit and Weinmann never got the opportunity to transform the fire house as he had hoped.
Interestingly, that same fire house, that sits vacant to this day, is part of Keystone Property Group’s SORA West plan. In the plan, the fire house will become a restaurant.
Weinamann saw our post yesterday, The List: What Was There Before Today’s Conshohocken Restaurants – Part 1, and sent over scans of polaroids he took in 1985 that showed the bars/restaurants he had researched for possible purchase.
Today Wally’s is a residential property.
Today the Village Tavern is Coyote Crossing.
Today the Casmar Cafe is Jasper’s Backyard.
In our list yesterday, we gave the history of what is now Southern Cross Kitchen. Prior to Southern Cross Kitchen, the property was 8 East and prior to that Toad’s. It looks like it was Storti’s Saloon prior to Toad’s.
In this image you can view three properties that are different things today. The Fayette Grille is Ray Longo’s Barbershop. To the left the photo shows Bolero’s Pizza, which is now Pasta Via. Next to that is a bar. We are not sure if this bar was known as Y2K in 1985 or not. But today it is The StoneRose.
On the left you can see the Brown Derby, which today is The Great American Pub. We use to hang out at The Great American Pub in 1994/1995. By the time we moved back in 2003, the Pub had also taken over the building to its left, where it now has additional bars and event space.
On the right you can see the Downtown Cafe. Today that is Flanigan’s Boathouse. The Boathouse also eventually expanded its space. You can see Baldwin Flowers to the left in the photo. That is the Boathouse’s dining room today.
This photo isn’t from Weinmann. We asked Bill Weber from the Boathouse if he had a photo from when it first opened. The Boathouse opened in 1991. As you can see, it has a much different facade than the Downtown Cafe.
In 1985, what was most recently Ted’s Pizza, was Carol’s. Were not sure if this Carol’s is connected to the Carol’s that exists today on Maple Street. Ted’s recently sold to another restaurant owner. We will have an article on this soon.
Photos: Ray Weinmann, unless otherwise noted.