Selective Focus: Moquah Bar

It’s called “The Plywood Palace.” About 60 miles southeast of Duluth — not far from Washburn and Ashland, in the unincorporated Wisconsin community of Moquah — sits the diviest dive bar known to mankind.

So the story goes, the Moquah Bar was founded in 1975 and was a pretty nice place until it burned down in the 1980s. The owner, “Bud,” slapped together a replacement structure out of scraps of plywood. Both the bar and the owner are still standing in 2026.

It’s oddly quiet there these days, since the jukebox stopped working and Bud is not the talkative sort, but the flow of ATV riders stopping in for a can of beer occasionally breaks the silence.

The inside is decorated with whatever patrons decide to slap on the walls and ceiling, which tends to be dollar bills, undergarments and can koozies.

Words to the wise: Avoid the mixed drinks and restrooms.