Williams, Arizona · Building: 1915
A working Williams bar in the Sultana Building, a mixed-use saloon and theater complex developed between 1912 and about 1915.
The Sultana Bar operates at 301 W. Route 66 in Williams. Its building predates Route 66 and was developed by Ben Sweetwood as a complex that included a saloon, entertainment spaces, and one of Arizona's early motion-picture theaters.
Williams merchant Ben Sweetwood began work on the Sultana Building, planned to contain civic offices, a saloon, and a motion-picture theater.
Source: National Park Service, Williams Historic Business District National Register nomination.
The Sultana Building was completed about 1915. National Register documentation describes its early functions as a saloon, billiard parlor, dance hall, and motion-picture theater.
Source: National Park Service, Williams Historic Business District National Register nomination.
U.S. Route 66 was designated after the Sultana Building's development, making the building a pre-Route 66 structure on the later historic highway corridor.
Source: National Park Service, Williams Historic Business District National Register nomination; Atlas Obscura, "Sultana Bar."
The Williams News reported that Teresa and Marc Stevens owned the Sultana Bar at that time. This does not establish current ownership.
Source: Williams News, "Local Sultana Bar in the limelight" (2009).
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The Williams Historic Business District National Register nomination states that Sweetwood began work in 1912 and that the building was completed around 1915.
National Register documentation identifies these early functions, and an architectural reference drawing on that nomination repeats the description.
Construction began in 1912, but the National Register nomination says the building was not completed until about 1915. The reviewed sources do not establish an exact opening date for the saloon or the present Sultana Bar identity.
The claim appears in a television feature and tourism-style materials, but the reviewed evidence does not include Arizona liquor-license records or a statewide comparative historical analysis.
The Sultana Bar building was built and opened in 1912.
National Register documentation says Ben Sweetwood began the building in 1912 and it was completed about 1915. The reviewed evidence does not establish an exact 1912 opening date for the bar.
Source: National Park Service, Williams Historic Business District National Register nomination.
The Sultana is conclusively Arizona's oldest bar or holder of the state's oldest liquor license.
Modern media repeat those superlatives, but the reviewed evidence does not provide Arizona liquor-license records or comparative statewide documentation sufficient to establish them.
Source: KSNV, "Secrets of The Desert: Williams, Arizona & Route 66" (2016).
Stories of tunnels, brothels, speakeasies, opium dens, and haunting beneath the Sultana are established history.
These stories are repeated as local lore in modern media. The reviewed evidence does not independently document the full tunnel system, specific vice businesses, or paranormal activity.
Source: KSNV, "Secrets of The Desert: Williams, Arizona & Route 66" (2016).
The Sultana remains an active bar in a historically significant downtown building whose entertainment and hospitality uses have long been part of Williams' commercial district.
Construction began in 1912 and the building was completed about 1915, according to the National Register nomination for the Williams Historic Business District.
That has not been established. The building project began in 1912, but it was completed around 1915; the reviewed record does not provide a verified opening date for the saloon or the present bar.
No. National Register documentation describes a mixed-use building that included a saloon, billiard parlor, dance hall, civic-office space, and an early motion-picture theater.
The claim is repeated in modern media, but this review did not locate a current or historical Arizona liquor-license record or statewide comparison that establishes it.
301 W Route 66, Williams, AZ 86046
(928) 635-4041
None on file
The Sultana is currently listed as an operating bar on Route 66. Verify current hours directly before visiting.