In 1964, The Beatles arrived in New York to embark upon their first U.S. tour and changed the course of American popular music. The nation had just mourned the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and people were trying to make sense of it all. The impact of “Beatlemania” on the U.S. was remarkable.

More importantly to us locals, the third stop on the Beatles’ tour was our own fair city of Seattle. On August 21, 1964 when no other Seattle hotel was ready to take them in, the Edgewater Hotel welcomed the fab four with open arms–and a few fishing poles!

If you don’t know the history of The Edgewater, here’s a quick run-down: The Sound-facing hotel was built as temporary housing for the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle with the promise that it was the only hotel from which you could fish out of your window. Unfortunately, the hotel was finished after the World’s Fair ended. Although the hotel is on a pier with a great view of the Puget Sound, many claim that The Beatles’ stay helped to make the Edgewater a historically significant landmark. “The Beatles Suite,” as to which it is still refered today, is available to current hotel guests and the Edgewater staff have maintained its Beatle-y decor. 

Suite #272, The Beatles’ Suite at the Edgewater Hotel present-day

As a way to say happy August, we thought we’d throwback to this noteworthy August event in our city’s history. Below is a sliver of the legendary fishing photo from the Beatles’ Suite! To see the actual photo, go here.

Beatles’ Suite -Turn your head all the way to the right to see the legendary photo of the fab four fishing from the suite window!

Also, for those of you Beatles fans out there, don’t forget to check out the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Beatles in Seattle on August 23, 2014 at McCaw Hall.