'Kind of fell in love with it': 24-year-old woman enjoys owning one of Sacramento's oldest bars
Mariah Lukenbill never dreamed of owning a bar.
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Updated: 7:51 PM PDT Mar 29, 2024
ALL SHAPES AND SIZES, BUT ONE OF THE CITY’S OLDEST BARS HAS A NEW OWNER. AND AS KCRA 3’S JASON MARKS FOUND OUT, ONE WOMAN IS BLAZING A TRAIL AT A VERY YOUNG AGE. MARIAH LUCKENBILL NEVER DREAMED OF OWNING A BAR, SO I WAS ACTUALLY LOOKING AT DIFFERENT PLACES IN SACRAMENTO WHERE I COULD BUY TO TURN INTO A COFFEE SHOP. BUT YOU CAN SAY AFTER ONE LOOK AT THE BUILDING ON THE CORNER OF RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD IN 43RD AVENUE, I WOULD DRIVE BY AND BE LIKE, WHAT IS THAT PLACE LIKE WHAT? LIKE, YOU KNOW, AND HERE I AM NOW. LUKE AND BILL FOUND HERSELF TRAPPED, AND I JUST KIND OF FELL IN LOVE WITH IT. YOU KNOW, I WALKED IN AND IT’S THIS FUNKY LITTLE PLACE AND AT 24, SHE’S ONE OF THE CITY’S YOUNGEST BAR OWNERS. I MISSED YOU. I MISS YOU, TOO. YOU SURE? OWNING ONE OF THE OLDEST BARS IN THE CITY. SO I JUST THINK IT’S REALLY INCREDIBLE THAT THIS BUILDING, YOU KNOW, WHICH WAS BUILT IN THE 1860S, STILL STANDS TODAY. THE TRAP WASN’T ALWAYS THE TRAP. IT WAS A A GROCERY STORE. AT ONE POINT. IT WAS AN INN. IT WAS A BROTHEL. BUT IT’S BEST KNOWN FOR BEING THE POCKETS NEIGHBORHOOD WATERING HOLE. IT’S LIKE THE LANDMARK OF THE SOUTH AREA HERE. IT’S BEEN HERE FOR AGES. SO THIS IS AN AERIAL SHOT OF THE POCKET AREA BACK FROM 1969. WE JUST HAD IT BLOWN UP AND PUT IN HERE, JUST TO KIND OF HONOR SOME OF THE HISTORY. AND WHAT’S UNIQUE ABOUT IT IS YOU CAN SEE THE VONS SHOPPING CENTER WASN’T HERE YET. FUTURE GREEN HAVEN LAKE. AND YET OF ALL THE THINGS ON THE MAP, THE TRAP IS STILL HERE. LUKE AND BILL BOUGHT THE TRAP NEARLY TWO YEARS AGO. THE BAR FOR A VERY LONG TIME WAS PREDOMINANTLY A MAN’S BAR, SO MUCH SO THAT AT ONE TIME WOMEN WERE FORCED TO COME THROUGH A BACK DOOR. TIMES HAVE OBVIOUSLY CHANGED, AND NOW THIS YOUNG WOMAN PLANS TO KEEP THE TRAPS HISTORY BY CREATING A NEW ONE. IT’S A UNIQUE SPOT, BUT I THINK THAT’S WHAT MAKES IT SO GREAT AND SO FUN AND UNIQUE. JASON MARKS KCRA THREE NEWS LOOKS LIKE BUSINESS IS GOOD. LUKE AND BILL SAYS THAT SHE HAS BIG PLANS FOR THE TRAP, WHICH
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'Kind of fell in love with it': 24-year-old woman enjoys owning one of Sacramento's oldest bars
Mariah Lukenbill never dreamed of owning a bar."I was actually looking for different places in Sacramento to buy and turn into a coffee shop," she said.But you can say after one look at the building on the corner of Riverside Boulevard and 43rd Avenue, she found her place. "I just kind of fell in love with it,” Lukenbill said. “I walked in, and it's this funky little place."At 24 years old, she's one of the city's youngest bar owners. She owns "The Trap," one of the oldest bars in the city."I just think it is incredible this building was built in the 1860s still stands today,” Lukenbill said.The Trap wasn't always what it is today."It was a grocery store at one time,” Lukenbill said. “It was an inn and it was a brothel."But it's best known for being the Pocket's neighborhood watering hole.“It's like the landmark of the south here,” said customer Art Pineau. “It's been here for ages."Lukenbill bought The Trap nearly two years ago and said it was predominantly a men's bar,so much so that women were forced to come in through a back door. Times have obviously changed.“It's a unique spot, but I think that's what makes it so great, fun and unique," Lukenbill said.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Mariah Lukenbill never dreamed of owning a bar.
"I was actually looking for different places in Sacramento to buy and turn into a coffee shop," she said.
But you can say after one look at the building on the corner of Riverside Boulevard and 43rd Avenue, she found her place.
"I just kind of fell in love with it,” Lukenbill said. “I walked in, and it's this funky little place."
At 24 years old, she's one of the city's youngest bar owners. She owns "The Trap," one of the oldest bars in the city.
"I just think it is incredible this building [that] was built in the 1860s still stands today,” Lukenbill said.
The Trap wasn't always what it is today.
"It was a grocery store at one time,” Lukenbill said. “It was an inn and it was a brothel."
But it's best known for being the Pocket's neighborhood watering hole.
“It's like the landmark of the south here,” said customer Art Pineau. “It's been here for ages."
Lukenbill bought The Trap nearly two years ago and said it was predominantly a men's bar, so much so that women were forced to come in through a back door. Times have obviously changed.
“It's a unique spot, but I think that's what makes it so great, fun and unique," Lukenbill said.
