Entry No. 12 — the San Francisco file — filed under: haunted
Old Ship Saloon
This corner bar is built directly on top of a buried Gold Rush ship: the Arkansas, a 1833 New York-built schooner that ran aground near Alcatraz in 1849, was towed into Yerba Buena Cove, and got permanently entombed as the cove was filled in around it — by 1859 a hotel rose over its hull while the bar kept pouring on the ground floor. A 15-foot chunk of the ship's false keel turned up 25 feet underground during nearby construction in 2016, then was reburied.
The story
In 1849, an 1833 New York-built schooner named the Arkansas ran aground on a reef near Alcatraz. Rather than scrapping the wreck, enterprising locals towed the ship into Yerba Buena Cove, cut a hole through her bow, threw down a gangplank, and started pouring drinks directly inside the hull. As the Gold Rush boom exploded, hundreds of abandoned ships choked the harbor. Developers simply filled the cove with sand, dirt, and ballast, entombing the harbor solid and building downtown San Francisco directly over a buried fleet.
By 1859, a three-story hotel rose on top of the Arkansas's buried deck, but the ground-floor saloon never stopped serving. You are standing above the remains of a 19th-century vessel rotting beneath the asphalt of Pacific Avenue. If you doubt the ship is down there, ask about 2016: during excavation work nearby, construction crews dug down 25 feet and pulled up a 15-foot section of the Arkansas's false keel before civil engineers reburied it under the pavement.
What it's like
Despite sitting on top of one of the city's wilder historical secrets, Old Ship Saloon operates as an unfussy, welcoming corner pub on the edge of Jackson Square. Step inside under the E Clampus Vitus historical plaque out front, pull up a stool at the wooden bar, and order a classic Pisco Punch. It gets a steady mix of neighborhood locals and history buffs following the Barbary Coast Trail, but it rarely feels packed or theatrical. Open daily from 11:00 AM to 2:00 AM.
The move: Order a drink at the same spot where sailors once climbed a gangplank through a hole cut in the ship's bow, and talk about the dozens of other Gold Rush vessels (the Niantic, the Apollo, the Rome) still entombed somewhere under the Financial District's sidewalks.
- 📍 Jackson Square, San Francisco
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 298 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94111
Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Musée Mécanique — Head north toward the waterfront to follow up a drink over a Gold Rush shipwreck with hand-cranked 19th-century coin-operated arcade oddities.
- The Interval at Long Now — Trade 1850s maritime ruins for deep-time mechanical clocks and ambient library drinks over at Fort Mason.
- Wilson & Wilson Private Detective Agency — Continue the hidden-history drinking run with a reservation at this noir detective-themed room hidden inside Bourbon & Branch.
Good to know
Is the ship actually still underneath the bar?
Yes. The hull of the 1833 schooner Arkansas remains buried roughly 20 to 25 feet beneath the building and the surrounding street frame of Pacific and Battery.
Where is Old Ship Saloon located?
It sits on the corner of Jackson Square at 298 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94111.
What are the bar's hours?
Old Ship Saloon is open seven days a week from 11:00 AM to 2:00 AM.
What drink should you get?
Order a Pisco Punch—a San Francisco cocktail staple that dates back to the city's 19th-century Gold Rush drinking culture.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · sfheritage.org · sfexaminer.com
last checked: 2026-07-20