The Palace Restaurant and Saloon
The Palace Restaurant and Saloon
Restaurant information
Established1877
Owner(s)Dennis McCormick, Derry McCormick, Scott Stanford, and Martha Mekeel.
Food typeSteakhouse, seafood
Dress codeCasual
Street address120 S. Montezuma Street
CityPrescott
StateArizona
Postal/ZIP Code86303
CountryUnited States
ReservationsYes
WebsiteOfficial website

The Palace Restaurant and Saloon is both the oldest business and oldest bar operating in the state of Arizona, United States. Located on historic Whiskey Row in Prescott, the saloon was opened in 1877, and rebuilt in 1901 after a disastrous fire swept the district in 1900. It is considered one of the most historic bars in the state.

History

Outdoor sign

In 1867, three years after the founding of the city, D.C. Thorne purchased the lot on which the saloon would later be built.[1] In 1877, Thorne built the saloon and named it The Palace Saloon; it was one of over forty bars which stood next to one another on Whiskey Row in Prescott.[2][3] Over the course of its history it has seen such famous patrons as Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, Doc Holliday (in the 1870s before they headed south to Tombstone), and Steve McQueen.[4][5][6] During his time in Prescott before leaving for Tombstone, Wyatt Earp was involved in several gunfights behind the saloon, killing two men. Holliday also killed a man in the saloon during a knife fight.[7] Thorne owned the property until it was destroyed in a fire in 1883, after which the property was sold to Robert Brow, who rebuilt the saloon, with innovations intended to make the structure less prone to fire, including a stone foundation and an iron roof. When it re-opened in 1884 it had the new hand-carved Brunswick bar, several chandeliers, three gaming tables and two club rooms. Along with the Cabinet Saloon next door, The Palace was considered the finest saloon in Arizona.[1]

The saloon was the scene of other violence as well, including the beating death of a sometimes prostitute named Jennie Clark, by her boyfriend Fred Glover. Jennie's real name was Nellie Coyle, and on a night in late August 1884, she and Glover got into a fight at the saloon. During the course of the scuffle, she was knocked down several times, and may have been kicked while on the floor. She died of her injuries that night. Glover was tried and convicted of first degree murder, and sentenced to hang. Prior to his execution, Governor Frederick Tritle commuted the sentence to life in prison, which was further reduced in 1889 by the next governor, Oakes Murphy, and Glover was released from prison the following year.[8][9]

A fire swept through Whiskey Row in 1900. During the fire, the patrons of the bar picked up the fancy hand-carved Brunswick bar and carried it out of the burning building. Setting it down across the street, they continued their drinking as the other side of the street burned.[3] The saloon was rebuilt at a cost of $50,000, combining with the Cabinet Saloon next-door, and re-opened in 1901 under the name The Palace Hotel.[1] After its re-opening was called "the most beautiful saloon in all of Arizona".[2] It was now a two-story masonry building, consisting of grey granite, iron and pressed ornamental bricks, and measuring 75 feet wide and 125 feet front to back. The central pediment on the front façade contained the seal of the Arizona Territory, flanked by a mountain lion and a bear. In addition to the bar, the saloon also contained gaming tables for faro, poker, roulette, kino and craps.[1]

During the Prohibition era, while the saloon closed down, a speakeasy continued to operate in the basement.[3] Throughout its history it has served as more than just a bar and restaurant, being used as a place to post work notices, the local mineral office where mineral claims were bought and sold, and as a polling location during elections.[10] It also had a seedier side, its upstairs rooms being used as a brothel, its basement used as an opium den, underground jail, and gambling rooms.[11] Holliday's common-law wife, Mary Katherine Horony-Cummings, better known as Big Nose Kate, worked upstairs as a prostitute.[11][12]

In 1996, the saloon underwent a retrograde renovation, restoring the interior to better reflect the time frame in which it was created, including swinging doors, hardwood floors, oak wainscoting and leaded-glass windows.[3] In 2011, Prescott implemented a "Boot Drop" on New Year's Eve, in imitation of the "Ball Drop" in New York City's Times Square. Each year the boot is dropped on the roof of The Palace.[13]

Current setting

Window sign

It is located in the historic district of Prescott, across the street from the county courthouse.[4] Having been established in 1877, the establishment is not only the oldest bar in the state of Arizona, but the oldest business as well.[14] It has been named "America's 10 best historic saloons" by USA Today, the second smallest city in the United States to be able to claim such a distinction.[15][7] The centerpiece of the saloon is the Brunswick bar which was saved from destruction in the fire of 1900. Built in New Jersey, the bar was freighted around the tip of South America to San Francisco, from where it was transported by pack mule to Prescott, then the territorial capital of Arizona.[7] The bar is 24 feet long, hand-carved from solid oak, and also contains large columns. The bar-top is polished cherry, while its fixtures consist of "the finest French plate glass oval top mirrors."[1] In addition to the swinging doors, hardwood floors, oak wainscoting and leaded-glass windows, the walls are lined with historic photographs and taxidermy. The bar taps are in unusual shapes such as a pistol and a cowboy,[10] there is a high, pressed-tin ceiling,[16] and the booths are named after famous patrons such as the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday.[15] The wait staff and bartenders dress in period costumes from the 1880s.[15][4] According to historians and anthropologists, the 1996 restoration returned the saloon to "an accurate replica of the original bar as it was constructed in 1877."[7] The bar continues to sell Old Overholt, which was the preferred drink of Holliday when he frequented the saloon.[7] In the back of the saloon is a hand-painted mural featuring scenes and actors from Junior Bonner.[7]

The bar has been featured in several films, including Junior Bonner, starring Steve McQueen; Billy Jack, starring Tom Laughlin; and Wanda Nevada, starring Peter Fonda and Brooke Shields.[3] The establishment is said to be haunted by several of its past denizens, and has been featured on Ghost Adventures.[11][17]

Images

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Gorby, Richard (September 29, 2012). "Days Past: Palace Saloon emerged from Great Fire of 1900 grander than ever". Daily Courier. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Holland, Catherine (July 1, 2015). "The Bird Cage on Whiskey Row". TV3. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Naylor, Roger (May 30, 2014). "Belly up to the bar: Arizona's best historic saloons". Arizona Republic. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "Experience the Old West in Prescott, Ariz". National Park Trips Media. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  5. ↑ Fitzsimons, Shane (December 16, 2016). "Yippee ki-yay from Arizona – the heart of the American southwest". Independent.ie. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  6. ↑ Tang, Terry (December 8, 2008). "Phoenix area still bowls over visitors". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Oldest Bar In Arizona Still Celebrating". Quad Cities Business News. November 4, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  8. ↑ Edwards, Ken (September 14, 2014). "Murder in the Palace Saloon, August 1884: Part I". Daily Courier. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  9. ↑ Edwards, Ken (September 21, 2014). "Murder in the Palace Saloon, August 1884: Part I". Daily Courier. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  10. 1 2 Battersby, Shandelle (September 15, 2016). "Bar review: The Palace Restaurant and Saloon, Arizona". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 "Haunted Northern Arizona: Two towns with spooky tales". ABC15. October 2, 2015. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  12. ↑ Devine, Peter (January 10, 2013). "Breathtaking scenery in and awesome surprises in Arizona". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  13. ↑ Dunham, Torrance (December 30, 2016). "Prescott Ready for the 6th Annual 'Boot Drop'". Prescott eNews. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  14. ↑ Leadem, Rose (January 12, 2017). "These Are the Oldest Businesses in Every State". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  15. 1 2 3 Wright, James G. (September 26, 2015). "Prescott, Ariz., embraces its wild and woolly history". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  16. ↑ "The Palace Restaurant and Saloon". Fodor's. November 15, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  17. ↑ Effrein, Max (October 27, 2016). "Chew on This: Want spooky dining for Halloween weekend? Prescott has you covered". Daily Courier. Retrieved January 13, 2017.

34°32′29″N 112°28′13″W / 34.5413°N 112.4704°W / 34.5413; -112.4704

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