The Old Ship Saloon

Pacific x Battery

The Old Ship Saloon is said to be one of the oldest in San Francisco. Its marker reads:

After a 178 day voyage from N.Y. via Cape Horn in 1849, the sailing ship Arkansas arrived in San Francisco Bay. Among her 112 passengers were 76 Methodists, all bound for the gold fields or church propagation. The ship was nearly lost while anchoring off Bird Island, now Alcatraz, then was rowed and purposely grounded in Yerba Buena Cove. Here an entrepreneur cut a hole in her bow, creating an instant saloon. The ships colorful past has included a seaman's bar, boarding house, bordello, and a shanghai-shop.

In days gone by, the water came up as far as Hawthorne St., which is a block and a half up Pacific, so I think you had to access the bar by clamoring over raised walkways, other wreckage and mud. Getting out of the bar later? It was the Barbary Coast, you figure it out.

Next to the bar (left in the picture) is a little ramp. It leads down to a sunken parking area. Across the top, by the street, is a row of Evergreen Pears (Pyrus kawakamii, a native of Taiwan) They produce about a zillion little white flowers every spring and for a short time the sidewalk is covered in petals. It's rather nice while it lasts.