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America’s Oldest Bars

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NOTE: This post and the list of the oldest bars has been moved here: The Oldest Bars In America. Please direct any comments or additions to that page, as this one will not be updated.

I stumbled upon this list of The 10 Oldest Bars in the United States on the blog for SloshSpot, an online portal for nightclubbing. Their original list:

  1. Jean Lafittes Blacksmith Shop; New Orleans, LA (1775)
  2. Bell In Hand; Boston, MA (1795)
  3. McSorley’s Old Ale House; New York, NY (1854)
  4. Old Ebbitt Grill; Washington, DC (1856)
  5. McGillin’s Olde Ale House; Philadelphia, PA (1860)
  6. The Saloon; San Francisco, CA (1861)
  7. The Little Shamrock; San Francisco, CA (1863)
  8. Ear Inn; New York, NY (1874)
  9. White Horse Tavern; New York, NY (1880)
  10. P.J. Clarke’s; New York, NY (1884)

My first thought was that seemed to missing some I’d heard of that were older than many on their list, and apparently I wasn’t the only one. Here is a more comprehensive list based on reader comments to the original post plus some of my own research and poking around. If you know of any others that should be on this list, please do let me know by posting a comment or sending me an e-mail.

NOTE: Updates will no longer appear here, but instead on a separate Page that I’ll continue to update as new information becomes available.

  1. White Horse Tavern; Newport, RI (1673)
  2. Jessop’s Tavern; New Castle, DE (1724)
  3. Red Fox Inn; Middleburg, VA (1728)
  4. General Lafayette Inn & Brewery; Lafayette Hill, PA (1732)
  5. Middleton Tavern, Middleton, MD (1750)
  6. Fraunces Tavern, New York, NY (1762)
  7. City Tavern, Philadelphia, PA (1773)
  8. Jean Lafittes Blacksmith Shop; New Orleans, LA (1775)
  9. Horse You Came In On; Baltimore, MD (1775)
  10. Griswold Inn; Essex, CT (1776)
  11. The Tavern; Abingdon, VA (1779)
  12. The Union Hotel (a.k.a. The Allentown Hotel, now DiMattias Restaurant & Lounge);
    Allentown, NJ (1779)
  13. The Warren Tavern; Charlestown, MA (1780)
  14. Gadsby’s Tavern; Alexandria, VA (1785)
  15. Wiggins Tavern; Northampton, MA (1786)
    [tavern moved from Hopkinton, New Hampshire]
  16. Bell In Hand; Boston, MA (1795)
  17. Old Absinthe House; New Orleans, LA (1815, possibly 1807)
  18. Broadway Hotel & Tavern; Madison, IN (1834)
  19. Knickerbocker Saloon; Lafayette, IN (1835)
  20. The Old Tavern; Niles, MI (1835)
  21. Spread Eagle Tavern & Inn; Hanoverton, OH (1837)
  22. Landmark 1850 Inn; Milwaukee, WI (1847; but currently closed for renovations)
  23. Ye Olde Trail Tavern; Yellow Springs, OH (1848)
  24. The Slippery Noodle; Indianapolis, IN (1850) [Wikipedia]
  25. Deer Park Tavern; Newark, DE (1851)
    [occupying the same spot as St. Patrick’s Inn, founded in 1747, but burned down in 1848]
  26. Breitbach’s Country Dining; Balltown, IA (1852)
  27. Genoa Bar & Saloon; Genoa, NV (1853) [new]
  28. McSorley’s Old Ale House; New York, NY (1854)
  29. Anvil Restaurant & Saloon; Ste. Genevieve, MO (1855)
  30. Old Ebbitt Grill; Washington, DC (1856)
  31. Tujague’s; New Orleans, LA (1856)
  32. McGillin’s Olde Ale House; Philadelphia, PA (1860)
  33. Arnold’s Bar and Grill; Cincinnati, OH (1861)
  34. The Saloon; San Francisco, CA (1861)
  35. Waterfront Hotel; Baltimore, MD (1861; building built in 1771)
  36. Pete’s Tavern; New York, NY (1864)
  37. Schloz Garten; Austin, TX (1866)
  38. The Original Oyster House; Pittsburgh, PA (1870)
    [Bear Tavern also opened on same site in 1827]
  39. Ulrich’s Tavern; Buffalo, NY (1870)
  40. Puddler’s Hall; Milwaukee, WI (1873; historical info)
  41. Ear Inn; New York, NY (1874)
  42. Shooting Star Saloon; Hunstsville, UT (1879)
  43. White Horse Tavern; New York, NY (1880)
  44. P.J. Clarke’s; New York, NY (1884)
  45. The Uptowner; Milwaukee, WI (1884)
  46. The Little Shamrock; San Francisco, CA (1893) [thanks to LS bartender Mike Flynn for correcting the date. The LS opened October 28, 1893, not 1863]

white-horse-ri
Arguably America’s oldest bar, the White Horse Tavern in Newport, Rhode Island.

The following are also contenders, but for one reason or another it isn’t clear if they were originally bars. They’re old, but they weren’t necessarily bars from their beginning or at a remote enough date in the past to make the list above.

Also, the Green Dragon in Boston, MA opened in 1654 so presumably might be considered the oldest. In 1764, the St. Andrews Lodge of Freemasons bought the tavern. Unfortunately, the original location on Union Street was demolished in 1854. Its present location at 11 Marshall Street was built at a later date, but I can’t find out exactly when. It’s certainly old, but probably not more than 100 years, if that.

UPDATES: Karsen Luthi sent me information about the Genoa Bar in Nevada (thanks, Karsen).



Comments

  1. What is needed to qualify? We have the 1839 Queen’s Inn here in Kingston Ontario that I think has been in continuous operation. There are a few more Pre-confederation (1867) pubs as well as a couple of still standing but repurposed Victorian breweries. The Prince Hotel next to City Hall is from 1809 and likely served booze in one form or another over that time.

  2. Well, nothing too formal, obviously. There are a few on the list that started as bars but closed for a time and then became bars again. That doesn’t trouble me too much, I guess because in a sense every bar on the list took a 13-year hiatus during Prohibition. I tried to limit places that started as a residence or some other purpose but later converted to a bar, preferring to use the date they started serving alcohol as their bar date, so to speak. The ones you mention, of course, suffer from small tiny detail that I think may keep them off the list: they’re Canadian. But perhaps we should start a companion list with our neighbors to the north?

  3. I think I will start discussion of that list tonight, Jay. But also remember, however, that on your list #1 to #11 predate the end of the American Revolution and so were under the pleasure of the British Crown. Heck, wasn’t Jean Lafittes Blacksmith Shop under French control until 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase?

    Newfoundland may be a hot bed of early taverns, now that I think of it.

  4. You bring up an interesting point, my friend. You are quite correct that those earliest taverns were under colonial rule and it was by the merest quirk of fate that they ended up a part of these United States. You yourself might also be so afflicted if we had been better at waging war. Didn’t we try twice to take over Canada, being beaten back both times rather embarrassingly? I’m sure our poor skills at hockey and curling had something to do with our defeat.

    All kidding aside, I guess I was basing the list on where they are now, not under whose rule they started. If we tried dividing them up that way, I feel certain chaos would ensue. We could always just chuck all the national borders and make the list North American.

  5. I have the opposite view – the more subcategorization the better!! I would say it is important to map the age and continuity of these establishments in the context of where people were at what point. Plus, it contextualizes the taverns into to the cultural history of North America.

    An interactive map. That’s what we need.

  8. One more you missed is the Middleton Tavern in Annapolis, MD which has been in operation since 1750.

  9. You forgot about the oldest saloon in California. Iron Door Saloon established in 1852 in Groveland. I’ve drank a beer there.

  11. Just found out about this list from The Washington Post Magazine.
    What about General Warren Inn in PA on Old Lincoln Highway?

  12. In a Washington Post Magazine item it cites an old bar known as General Lafayette Inn and Brewery with a date of 1732 and a location of Lafayette Hill, PA.
    I would accept a date just after the Rev War but 1732 is somewhat unbelievable.. Could this be a typo?

  14. The Century Inn (formerly Hill’s Tavern) in Scenery Hill, PA, has been in continual operation since 1794 and is the oldest hospitality establishment on the historic National Pike Road (U.S. 40). The tavern and inn were a stagecoach stop that catered primarily to weary travelers but famous visitors include Andrew Jackson, the Marquis de LaFayette, Henry Clay, James K. Polk and Mexican Gen. Santa Anna.

    It is listed as both a state and national historic landmark. Of note, hanging on the wall in the barroom is the only known surviving flag of the Whiskey Rebellion.

    Please consider adding this to your list of oldest taverns in America.