For three quarters of a century residents and visitors in the Central Adirondacks have patronized the Knotty Pine Restaurant in Thendara. Whether for a special occasion or just a friendly evening out, to dine at the Pine is a tradition and a treat.

The founder of the establishment was Michael Martin who moved to Thendara from Rochester and immediately became known as “Little Mike” because there was all ready a “Big Mike” Skirment (a larger man) also in the business who ran the Riverview Inn, located where The Old Mill Restaurant stands today. Little Mike and his wife, Mary, built the original Knotty Pine, a fairly modest building with a small apartment upstairs where they  lived for a period of time.

The Martins’ son, Marty Martin of Old Forge, recalled several years ago that from the start there was the bar, the fireplace and a piano. The walls were sheet rocked with knotty pine plank, but in later years and after further expansions, the walls received the mellow knotty pine paneling that defines the restaurant today.

The original name the Martins chose for the bar was the Knotty Pine Inn, but they changed it to the Knotty Pine Tavern after realizing that a 13-letter name could be unlucky. This was the l930s and the Depression was at its depth. The Martins decided they needed all the luck they could get running a new business. Some years later under new owners, it became the Knotty Pine Restaurant, but most people knew it and still know it as just the Knotty Pine.

The Martins proved to be lucky as they welcomed every1 who came their way. For example, loggers during the logging heyday stayed close to camp when they were working in the woods, but on payday they headed to the Knotty Pine. From the start it was a fun place with good food and good cheer.

Michael Martin sold the Knotty Pine in 1946, and according to the old deed this is what the new owners purchased: 16 tables, 58 chairs, a piano, two signs, seven screens, one screen door, 13 bar chairs, two tables, six chrome barstools, 33 four-ounce glasses, 12 seven-ounce glasses, five wine glasses, eight cordial glasses, two 1-ounce glasses, a complete bar mixing outfit, one wooden muddler, one mix spoon, one lime squeezer, one chrome strainer, 35 green ash trays, one gas stove plate with two burners, one gas range, one coal or wood kitchen stove, five pie plates, five cake plates, one 10 inch skillet, two six-inch skillets, two four-inch skillets, one cake box, miscellaneous dishes, glasses, silverware, one Majestic refrigerator, one potcoal burner/hot water outfit and the Knotty Pine Tavern.