Located almost at road’s end on Highway 903, the little town of Roslyn has long been a favorite of Washingtonians. Roslyn’s main attractions are its Old-West false-fronted buildings, many of which appeared in the 1990s television hit Northern Exposure, including the famous Roslyn Café sign.
Central Sundries (509/649-2210) was the location of “Ruth-Anne’s General Store.” The Brick Tavern, across the street, is the oldest licensed tavern in Washington. It opened in 1889 and is famous for the 23-foot long running water spittoon that still washes away patrons’ tobacco juice.
The Roslyn Museum (203 Pennsylvania Ave, 509/649-2776, daily 1–4 p.m.), next to the Roslyn Café, houses an interesting combination of mining equipment and Northern Exposure memorabilia.
Goths, geneaologists, and those with morbid temperaments are drawn to Roslyn’s 26 cemeteries—quite a few, considering the city’s population was never higher than 4,000. The wide variety of ethnic groups, religions, and fraternal brotherhoods that thrived here during the town’s early coal mining days are the reason for the extreme segregation of the town’s dead.