Iron Door Saloon
The history
The oldest liquor-serving establishment in California, by its own plaque. Peter King built it in 1852 as "The Granite Store," a general mercantile serving the thirsty with the obligatory plank laid over flour barrels for a bar. Postmaster Jim Tannahill bought it in the 1860s and ran the town's post office out of it for almost 25 years. Giacomo De Ferrari turned it into a full saloon in 1896, and it wasn't named the Iron Door Saloon until 1937, for the two cast-iron doors — shipped over from England — that have kept it standing through the fires that took the rest of the block. Peter and Bettike Barsotti have owned it since 1985; E Clampus Vitus dedicated the historical plaque on the wall August 14, 1999.
In brief
The Iron Door Saloon is located at 18761 Main Street in Groveland, California, about twenty-five miles from the entrance of Yosemite National Park. According to its proprietors, it is the oldest continuously operating saloon in California. It remains a popular tourist stop on the main road between The Bay Area and Yosemite.
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