Juneau's sawdust-floor Gold Rush bar, where the house ghost is a piano player whose ashes sit above the bar.
278 S Franklin St, Juneau, AK 99801
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Free to enter; food and drink at menu prices.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Ground-floor bar with sawdust-covered floor on a downtown street.
Equipment
Photos OK
Juneau mining-era saloon · Recognized as the oldest man-made tourist attraction in Juneau · South Franklin Street tourist district
The Red Dog Saloon traces its origins to Juneau's mining era, when the Treadwell and Alaska-Juneau mines made the town one of the busiest in the territory. The Alaska Legislature has recognized the Red Dog for its longevity as the oldest man-made tourist attraction in Juneau. Early proprietors Earl and Thelma Forsythe ran it as a dance and entertainment hall, and the long-running performer 'Ragtime Hattie' played piano there in white gloves and a silver-dollar halter.
The saloon leaned into its frontier image as Juneau's economy shifted toward tourism. During the territorial period, owner Gordie Kanouse met arriving tour boats with a mule wearing a sign that read 'follow my ass to the Red Dog Saloon.' The interior keeps a deliberately rough-cut, Gold Rush look: sawdust on the floor, swinging doors, and walls layered with business cards, hats, and curios left by visitors.
Among the displayed items is a pistol attributed to Wyatt Earp, said to have been checked with the Juneau marshal as Earp passed through and never reclaimed. The Red Dog sits on South Franklin Street near the cruise-ship docks and is one of the most-visited stops in downtown Juneau, busiest during the summer season when ships fill the waterfront.
Sources
The Red Dog Saloon's haunting is told in the same playful key as the bar itself. The resident spirit is Professor Phineas Poon, a piano player from the saloon's earlier days whose cremated ashes are said to be kept in an urn displayed above the bar. According to the lore repeated by staff and on Juneau's ghost-walk tours, Poon never fully departed and remains a trickster presence, blamed for small mischief around the room.
Unlike the heavier legends at other Juneau stops, the Red Dog's ghost story carries no tragedy. It fits a saloon that has always sold its own frontier theater, and it is presented as part of the fun rather than as a serious claim of haunting. The americanghostwalks Juneau tour lists the Red Dog as a stop specifically for the Poon story, and travel writers covering Juneau's 'spirited side' include it among the city's lighthearted haunts.
There is no documentary record establishing Phineas Poon as a historical person, and the urn-above-the-bar detail belongs to saloon tradition rather than verified history. Like the Wyatt Earp pistol on the wall, the ghost is best understood as part of the Red Dog's long-cultivated Gold Rush mythology — a story the saloon tells about itself.
Notable Entities
Step into Juneau's best-known saloon, with its sawdust floor, swinging doors, and walls covered in memorabilia. Ask staff about Professor Phineas Poon, the piano player whose urn is said to sit above the bar. The Red Dog is a regular stop on Juneau's downtown ghost-walk tours.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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