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America’s Oldest Bars

Jay Brooks

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]


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).

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