Formerly: Pantheon Hotel · Pantheon Saloon · Pantheon Stables
Honolulu, Hawaii · Founded 1878 · Building: 1911 Pantheon Building; earlier Pantheon saloon structures at Hotel and Fort streets were destroyed or replaced
James Dodd's 1878 Pantheon saloon enterprise survived changing locations and fires, but its original saloon was deliberately burned during Honolulu's 1900 plague crisis.
James Dodd began Honolulu's Pantheon enterprise in 1878 when he leased the Bartlett House at Hotel and Fort streets, renamed it the Pantheon Hotel, and operated a livery stable and licensed saloon. Dodd replaced the early premises with a new bar-and-billiard structure in 1883. The Pantheon stables and saloon were deliberately burned by authorities in February 1900 during bubonic-plague control measures, and a new Pantheon saloon reopened later that year. A separate later Pantheon Building on Nuʻuanu Avenue dates to 1911 and is now described as boarded up.
James Dodd leased the Bartlett House at Hotel and Fort streets, renamed it the Pantheon Hotel, and operated a livery stable and licensed Pantheon Saloon in connection with it.
Source: American Society of Civil Engineers Hawaiʻi Section, 'History & Heritage 2013'; Images of Old Hawaiʻi, 'Pantheon Saloon.'
Dodd tore down the earlier Pantheon building at Hotel and Fort streets and erected a new one-story building intended for bar and billiard rooms. Contemporary reports described the nearly completed Pantheon Saloon as handsomely designed.
Source: Images of Old Hawaiʻi, 'Pantheon Saloon,' quoting Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 24, 1883, and Daily Bulletin, May 23, 1883.
A Honolulu fire badly charred the side of Dodd's Pantheon stables nearest the blaze, but the stables were saved from complete destruction. The event does not establish that the entire Pantheon complex escaped unharmed.
Source: Images of Old Hawaiʻi, 'Pantheon Saloon,' quoting Saturday Press, January 24, 1885.
Honolulu health authorities ordered the Pantheon livery stables, saloon, and adjoining block deliberately burned as part of efforts to contain bubonic plague.
Source: American Society of Civil Engineers Hawaiʻi Section, 'History & Heritage 2013'; Images of Old Hawaiʻi, 'Pantheon Saloon,' quoting Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 7, 1900.
A new Pantheon Saloon reopened after the destruction. Contemporary reporting said it retained the koa bar and other features salvaged from the fire.
Source: American Society of Civil Engineers Hawaiʻi Section, 'History & Heritage 2013,' quoting Hawaiian Star, September 25, 1900, and Hawaiian Reporter, September 26, 1900.
The later Pantheon Building on Nuʻuanu Avenue was completed or nearing completion. It is separate from James Dodd's earlier Hotel-and-Fort-streets Pantheon buildings.
Source: Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation, Austin and Pantheon Buildings; Historic Hawaiʻi newsletter, February 1983; Images of Old Hawaiʻi, 'Pantheon Saloon.'
Hawaiʻi Theatre Center purchased the Hawaiʻi Theatre and adjacent Austin, Pantheon, and McLean buildings.
Source: Hawaiʻi Theatre Center, 'The Historic Hawaii Theatre.'
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Historical accounts quoting 1878 Honolulu newspapers state that Dodd leased the Bartlett House at Hotel and Fort streets, renamed it the Pantheon Hotel, and operated an associated livery stable and licensed saloon. The date describes the beginning of the Pantheon enterprise, not the construction date of the later 1911 Nuʻuanu Avenue building.
The Pantheon stables and saloon were deliberately burned on February 7, 1900 under public-health orders intended to contain bubonic plague. A new Pantheon Saloon reopened later that year, but that reopening does not mean the original structure survived.
Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation describes the Pantheon as a former Honolulu oldest-bar claimant, but the business's premises were destroyed by deliberate burning in February 1900 and a new saloon reopened months later. That documented interruption defeats an absolute continuously operating claim; the record also does not establish a complete competitive history against other Honolulu bars.
No contemporaneous newspaper account, royal diary, court record, or reliable historic source was located in this review demonstrating that King Kalākaua regularly visited the Pantheon. The claim should not be included as established history.
Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation describes the Pantheon Building as built in 1911, and historical accounts place the later Pantheon Block's completion around that year. The record reviewed does not include a building permit, deed, or architectural inventory establishing exact construction and occupancy dates.
Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation describes the Pantheon as boarded up and says it once housed Honolulu's oldest bar. Hawaiʻi Theatre Center's ownership history confirms acquisition of the adjacent Pantheon Building in 1986, but it does not establish current operation of the former bar space.
The current Pantheon Building on Nuʻuanu Avenue is the original 1883 Pantheon Saloon building.
James Dodd's original Pantheon Hotel and Saloon enterprise operated at Hotel and Fort streets. Its 1883 bar-and-billiard building was later destroyed or replaced; the later Pantheon Building on Nuʻuanu Avenue dates to 1911 and is a distinct building phase.
Source: American Society of Civil Engineers Hawaiʻi Section, 'History & Heritage 2013'; Images of Old Hawaiʻi, 'Pantheon Saloon'; Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation, Austin and Pantheon Buildings.
The Pantheon Saloon survived the 1900 Chinatown fire.
Authorities deliberately burned the Pantheon stables and saloon on February 7, 1900 as part of Honolulu's bubonic-plague control measures. A new Pantheon Saloon reopened later that year.
Source: American Society of Civil Engineers Hawaiʻi Section, 'History & Heritage 2013'; Images of Old Hawaiʻi, 'Pantheon Saloon.'
The Pantheon was Honolulu's oldest continuously operating bar.
The Pantheon was an old Honolulu bar claimant, but the documented February 1900 destruction and later reopening defeat a continuous-operation claim. The former bar is also no longer open.
Source: Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation, Austin and Pantheon Buildings; Images of Old Hawaiʻi, 'Pantheon Saloon.'
The Pantheon survives as a complicated downtown Honolulu building-and-business story rather than as a still-open bar. Dodd repeatedly rebuilt and revived the enterprise after crises, including the late-19th-century fire damage and the 1900 plague-control burning that destroyed the saloon and stables. The later 1911 Pantheon Building avoided demolition after the Hawaiʻi Theatre Center acquired adjacent historic buildings in 1986, but the available record does not establish that the former bar space is currently active.
James Dodd began the Pantheon enterprise at Hotel and Fort streets in Honolulu in 1878, operating a hotel, livery stable, and licensed saloon. Dodd replaced the early premises with a purpose-built bar-and-billiard building in 1883. The original Pantheon stables and saloon were deliberately burned during Honolulu's 1900 bubonic-plague response, and a new Pantheon Saloon reopened later that year. The later Pantheon Building on Nuʻuanu Avenue dates to 1911 and is a separate surviving structure associated with the Pantheon name.
The Pantheon was later described as an oldest-bar claimant in Honolulu, but it cannot be verified as the city's oldest continuously operating bar. Its original stables and saloon were deliberately burned in February 1900 during plague-control measures, followed by a later reopening. That interruption prevents a defensible continuous-operation title.
No. The Pantheon stables and saloon were among the properties authorities ordered burned on February 7, 1900 during efforts to contain bubonic plague in Honolulu. A new Pantheon Saloon reopened in September 1900, reportedly using the old koa bar and other salvaged fixtures.
No. Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation describes the 1911 Pantheon Building as boarded up and says it once housed the former Pantheon bar. Hawaiʻi Theatre Center acquired adjacent Pantheon-related historic property in 1986, but the reviewed evidence does not show that the former bar remains open or functions as a current theatre venue.
1129 Nuʻuanu Ave, Honolulu, HI 96817
Not an active bar. Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation describes the 1911 Pantheon Building as boarded up; verify current access and tenancy before visiting.