Formerly: Board of Trade Saloon
Leadville, Colorado · Founded 1879 · Building: circa 1879
A Leadville saloon tracing its roots to the 1879 Board of Trade, known for its mining-boom setting, diamond-dust mirrors, and contested oldest-bar claim.
The Silver Dollar Saloon operates at 315 Harrison Avenue in Leadville, Colorado. The business traces its history to the Board of Trade Saloon, reportedly opened in 1879 during Leadville's silver-boom era and renamed the Silver Dollar Saloon in 1935. It is associated with figures including Oscar Wilde and Doc Holliday, but the evidence for individual patronage varies and should not be confused with settled fact.
The Silver Dollar traces its origins to the Board of Trade Saloon, which current business and tourism sources say opened in Leadville on this date.
Source: The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon official website; Uncover Colorado, "The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon"
Oscar Wilde visited Leadville on his American lecture tour and appeared at the Tabor Opera House. Later accounts connect him to the Board of Trade, but this review did not locate a contemporary record proving a specific visit or drink at the saloon.
Source: Irish America, "Oscar & Doc: A trip to Leadville, Colorado"; Uncover Colorado, "The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon"
Doc Holliday was in Leadville during the early 1880s and shot former policeman Billy Allen across the street in 1884. His alleged regular patronage of the Board of Trade remains unverified in this review.
Source: The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon official history; Uncover Colorado, "The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon"
Regional tourism and business sources say the Board of Trade was renamed the Silver Dollar Saloon.
Source: Uncover Colorado, "The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon"; Ride to Food, "The Silver Dollar Saloon: 140 Years Old and Full of History"
The business says the Silver Dollar has been family-owned since 1943. This review did not identify the present owner or independently verify the full ownership chain.
Source: The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon, "About"
The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon continues to operate at 315 Harrison Avenue with daily bar hours and food service.
Source: The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon official website; Colorado.com; Visit Leadville Twin Lakes
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The business, Colorado tourism, regional travel sources, and Leadville-area visitor information consistently identify a Board of Trade origin in 1879. This review did not retrieve an 1879 license, deed, city-directory entry, newspaper advertisement, or other contemporaneous record, so the claim is plausible rather than documented.
Multiple current travel and business sources state that the venue changed from the Board of Trade to the Silver Dollar Saloon in 1935. The review did not locate the contemporary commercial filing or newspaper announcement necessary to treat the precise date as fully documented.
Oscar Wilde's 1882 Leadville visit and Doc Holliday's early-1880s presence in Leadville are historically credible, and current accounts connect them to the Board of Trade/Silver Dollar. This review did not locate primary evidence confirming visits by each named figure; the Horace and Baby Doe Tabor claims were especially unsupported in the retrieved source set.
Accounts connected with the venue say Holliday shot former Leadville policeman Billy Allen across the street in 1884. The incident should not be described as a shooting inside the Silver Dollar Saloon or as the shooting of a sheriff.
The business calls itself Colorado's oldest bar, but Colorado.com calls it the state's second-oldest saloon. The review also did not locate a complete license, ownership, or operating record that proves uninterrupted operation from 1879 or identifies the older competing venue. The statewide title is unresolved.
The business promotes paranormal lore associated with the saloon. The existence of modern haunted reputation is a matter of venue folklore, but no earliest report, named legend with historical evidence, or independently documented paranormal event was located in this review.
Colorado tourism and regional visitor sources describe original tile flooring, a custom-made bar, and original diamond-dust mirrors. The review did not retrieve a preservation survey, restoration report, or object-provenance documentation independently proving the age and continuity of each feature.
Everything below has been reported by two or more independent sources — this is an informational record of what's said about this place, not a verified account of paranormal activity. Still Open America doesn't certify hauntings as real.
Staff and visitors report humanlike forms in the back room and a foggy figure visible in or near the old telephone booth. The saloon displays photographs said to show these apparitions, including an image associated with its resident ghost lore.
Employees and guests report shuffling or heavy footsteps, stomping, and the sound of someone moving through the saloon when no one is present. The reports are commonly associated with the bar after closing and with the basement stairs.
Staff accounts describe televisions switching on or off without anyone touching them and doors slamming during basement work. These effects are generally attributed to unnamed resident spirits rather than a consistently identified figure.
Patrons report seeing the noose hanging from the main bar rafters sway or swing violently in the early morning despite no apparent draft. The saloon displays the noose as part of its Leadville history and ghost lore.
A child presence is said to haunt the basement and tunnels beneath the saloon. Accounts describe a little girl who may push people on the stairs or become hostile, with a pair of children's shoes displayed as part of the story.
The reviewed sources did not identify historical records confirming that a child died in tunnels beneath the saloon or establishing the provenance of the displayed shoes.
Some patrons report seeing a man and younger woman resembling Horace and Baby Doe Tabor sitting closely together in a corner of the bar. Retellings say the sightings are especially associated with blizzard conditions outside.
The Silver Dollar Saloon has always used its current name since opening in 1879.
Current business and regional travel sources say the venue began as the Board of Trade Saloon and was renamed the Silver Dollar Saloon in 1935.
Source: Uncover Colorado, "The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon"; Ride to Food, "The Silver Dollar Saloon: 140 Years Old and Full of History"
The Silver Dollar Saloon is definitively Colorado's oldest continuously operating bar.
The Silver Dollar's current website calls it Colorado's oldest bar, but Colorado.com calls it the state's second-oldest saloon. The conflicting rankings and incomplete continuity record leave the statewide title unresolved.
Source: The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon official website; Colorado.com, "Silver Dollar Saloon"
Doc Holliday shot a sheriff at the Silver Dollar Saloon.
Accounts associated with the Silver Dollar say Holliday shot former Leadville policeman Billy Allen across the street in 1884. The event was not a documented saloon shooting and Allen was not a sheriff.
Source: Uncover Colorado, "The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon"; The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon, "About"
The Silver Dollar remains a working food-and-drink venue by making its mining-boom setting part of the experience: original-period features, long-running local lore, and a central Harrison Avenue location turn the bar into a destination as well as a neighborhood gathering place. Its strongest story is longevity and place, though the exact continuous-operation record and statewide ranking need more archival work.
The Silver Dollar Saloon in Leadville, Colorado, traces its history to the Board of Trade Saloon, which current sources say opened on April 13, 1879. The business was reportedly renamed the Silver Dollar Saloon in 1935 and remains active at 315 Harrison Avenue. Its mining-boom setting and associations with figures such as Oscar Wilde and Doc Holliday are central to the lore, although this review did not verify every individual visit.
The claim is unresolved. The Silver Dollar Saloon's own website calls it Colorado's oldest bar, but Colorado.com describes it as the state's second-oldest saloon. The review did not locate a full statewide comparison or enough primary records to establish uninterrupted operation since 1879, so no definitive oldest-bar title can be assigned.
Oscar Wilde visited Leadville in 1882 during his American lecture tour and later recalled an experience in a local saloon that has been associated with the Silver Dollar. The connection is plausible, but this review did not locate a contemporaneous newspaper account, diary entry, hotel record, or other primary source proving a specific drink at the Board of Trade Saloon.
This review did not identify an earliest reliable publication that first described The Silver Dollar Saloon as haunted. The business currently promotes paranormal lore, but present-day stories do not establish when a haunted reputation began or verify the alleged experiences.
315 Harrison Ave, Leadville, CO 80461
(719) 486-9914
The Legendary Silver Dollar Saloon lists daily bar hours and limited kitchen hours; check the official website before visiting because food service and closing times may vary.