It’s 1903 and you’re unloading the day’s take from your boat at the dock off Fernandina Beach’s waterfront when you spot a sign you haven’t seen before. “What’s the ‘Palace Saloon?” you say to your coworkers who agree it sounds like a place worth checking out.
Inside you meet owner Louis Hirth who says you just missed his friend Adolphus Busch, founder of Anheuser-Busch, who traveled from St. Louis to assist with the new spot’s design and opening. Bars aren’t known to stay in business for long around here, but this place seems different. You tell Hirth you have a beer-gut feeling it will be a success.
Your beer-gut was right.
The Palace Saloon is Florida’s oldest continuously operated drinking establishment. Surviving Prohibition, declines in the area’s fishing economy and a disastrous fire in 1999, the bar today retains many of its original features and is a must-visit for locals and tourists who flock to the town’s charming waterfront.