Seattle's famous Twin Teepees Restaurant, a regional roadside icon since 1937, was unceremoniously bulldozed on Tuesday, July 30. The Teepees, on North Aurora Avenue, had been in decline for a number of years, and a fire last May crippled the establishment. Owner Rob Pierides was unable to muster the estimated $100,000 repair costs. The demolishing of the building was scheduled and completed before any locals or preservationists could protest. Morning commuters saw it standing proudly on the way into Seattle, and a reduced to a pile of rubbish on the way home.

Aside from its unusual double Indian-style teepee structure, the restaurant was known as the place where Harlan, a young cook, allegedly perfected his fried chicken recipe, and later became known as Colonel Sanders.

Many Smilers and fans of the attraction have reported on the Twin Teepees' demise:

"Really sad," sez Paula. "You could get a prime rib dinner with soup and dessert for $11.50."

Steve Thornton writes: "My wife and I last ate there a week before the (2000)fire. I'm sad, and I'm angry. It's not just a restaurant, it's part of our cultural landscape, and it should have been saved. We spend hundreds of millions of tax dollars building hideous monuments to wealth and power (Safeco, new Seahawks stadium, Beneroya, Pine Street canopy, Nordstrom parking garage, EMP) while we allow our real culture to be bulldozed. The new edifices could be anywhere -- Houston, Phoenix, Indianapolis -- but the Twin Teepees was uniquely HERE. Now it's gone."

[08/01/2001]