Bars, Booze, and Saloons: 100 Years of Lilac City Drinking History
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Doors 5:30 PM | Lecture 6:00 PM
Montvale Event Center, Second Floor (Ella’s Theatre & Library Lounge)
Purchase your $20 ticket here
From frontier saloons to cocktail lounges, Spokane’s drinking history has been part of city life from the very beginning. Join Spokane Preservation Advocates for an evening exploring how American drinking culture took root in early Spokan Falls, weathered the push and pull of Prohibition, and evolved in the post-war years.
Historian Renée Cebula will trace Spokane’s bar and cocktail history through the Golden Age of American drinking, focusing on the establishments and eras that shaped where people gathered and how those spaces reflected broader changes in the city.
Doors open at 5:30 PM, with the lecture beginning at 6:00 PM, followed by audience Q&A. A no-host bar will be available throughout the evening.