The next stop on my list of bars on Whiskey Row was one of the most anticipated stops. The Palace Restaurant and Saloon. If this place could talk, I would have probably been there for weeks! So, after leaving the Bird Cage, it was time to move on to the most interesting and self-proclaimed oldest frontier saloon in Arizona. Ask just about anyone in Arizona and they will have a story to tell about the Palace.
The Palace was established and opened in September of 1877. There were so many saloons in business at the time but the Palace was more than just a saloon. The frontier men, who were looking for work at that time, could go to the Palace and find something by looking at a work message board. Not only that, but mineral rights were bought and sold at the bar, and the Palace was a place to go to check on cattle trades. It also served as an election place for political races in town.
The original swinging doors bring a real view of the history of this saloon. Walking through these doors was like walking back into time. If you look up and into the Saloon, you can see the pressed tin ceilings. Wyatt Earp and his brother, Virgil (who lived in Prescott) were regulars of The Palace as was Doc
Holliday who loved to play poker on Whiskey Row. It is said that Doc
Holliday was on a winning streak in the late 1800's and won $10,000 before leaving for Tombstone.
The beautifully hand-carved back bar built by the Brunswick Company in the 1880's is one of the oldest bars on Whiskey Row and has a history of it's own. During the fire that destroyed Whiskey row on July 14
th, 1900, the patrons of the bar, probably ranchers, gamblers and cowboys, carried the back bar out of The Palace and across the street to the courtyard where they continued drinking and playing cards while the fire raged on.
As I sat down at the bar, ordered a beer and looked around, I felt that I was in a saloon right out of an old western movie. Thanks to the former owner Bob Brow who rebuilt The Palace right after the fire which included a Chinese restaurant and barber shop. It has since been restored to it's magnificence in 1901. The dining room really adds a nice touch to the great feel of an absolutely impressive saloon.
The next stop on my list of bars on Whiskey Row was one of the most anticipated stops. The Palace Restaurant and Saloon. If this place could talk, I would have probably been there for weeks! So, after leaving the Bird Cage, it was time to move on to the most interesting and self-proclaimed oldest frontier saloon in Arizona. Ask just about anyone in Arizona and they will have a story to tell about the Palace.
The Palace was established and opened in September of 1877. There were so many saloons in business at the time but the Palace was more than just a saloon. The frontier men, who were looking for work at that time, could go to the Palace and find something by looking at a work message board. Not only that, but mineral rights were bought and sold at the bar, and the Palace was a place to go to check on cattle trades. It also served as an election place for political races in town.
The original swinging doors bring a real view of the history of this saloon. Walking through these doors was like walking back into time. If you look up and into the Saloon, you can see the pressed tin ceilings. Wyatt Earp and his brother, Virgil (who lived in Prescott) were regulars of The Palace as was Doc Holliday who loved to play poker on Whiskey Row. It is said that Doc Holliday was on a winning streak in the late 1800's and won $10,000 before leaving for Tombstone.
The beautifully hand-carved back bar built by the Brunswick Company in the 1880's is one of the oldest bars on Whiskey Row and has a history of it's own. During the fire that destroyed Whiskey row on July 14th, 1900, the patrons of the bar, probably ranchers, gamblers and cowboys, carried the back bar out of The Palace and across the street to the courtyard where they continued drinking and playing cards while the fire raged on. 
As I sat down at the bar, ordered a beer and looked around, I felt that I was in a saloon right out of an old western movie. Thanks to the former owner Bob Brow who rebuilt The Palace right after the fire which included a Chinese restaurant and barber shop. It has since been restored to it's magnificence in 1901. The dining room really adds a nice touch to the great feel of an absolutely impressive saloon.
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