Back of Photo:
Lyle Swenson in his Autorest Cafe in Cle Elum
CLE ELUM--The Autorest Cafe, known to travelers for its pastry and a back bar that came 'round Cape Horn, will change ownership on Sept. 15 after being in the same family since 1918.
Many cross-state travelers have stopped at the venerable place, operated for the past 30 years by Lois and Lyle Swenson of Cle Elum. They have sold the restaurant to Ron and Donna Voight of the Tacoma area. Voight has been with Safeway.
The massive back bar of dark, Honduras mahogany is the dominant piece. Visitors who sat at the counter and saw themselves in the bar's broad mirrors wouldn't know its history unless they read the sign.
Hand-carved and built in Alabama in 1897 by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co., the bar was shipped around Cape Horn to Seattle, where it embellished the old Mecca Saloon on First Avenue in 1915. The bar was moved and installed in the Autorest Cafe, Cle Elum, in 1918.