HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Leadville's oldest continuously operating bar since 1879, where the actual noose from the town's last hanging still hangs — and reportedly sways on its own in the early morning hours.
315 Harrison Ave, Leadville, CO 80461
Research updated June 2026
Age
21+
Cost
Free
No cover; drinks and food priced individually at the bar
Access
Wheelchair OK
Street-level historic bar, flat interior
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1879 · Leadville's oldest continuously operating saloon since 1879 · Original Board of Trade Saloon · Displays actual noose from Leadville's last public hanging · Documented haunt of Doc Holliday and Molly Brown
The Silver Dollar Saloon opened in 1879 as the Board of Trade Saloon at 315 Harrison Avenue in Leadville, Colorado, during the first year of the silver boom that would transform the city into one of the most populous in the American West within a decade. Its location on Harrison Avenue, the commercial spine of Leadville, placed it adjacent to banks, hotels, and the Tabor Opera House — all within a few blocks of one another.
The saloon operated through the silver boom and the bust of 1893 and has remained continuously open under various owners and names since. It eventually took the name Silver Dollar Saloon and built its identity around its collection of hanging-era artifacts. The bar displays the actual noose used in Leadville's last public hanging along the walls, accompanied by historical photographs from multiple executions in the county's history.
Doc Holliday spent time in Leadville in the early 1880s — this is corroborated by period newspaper accounts — and is locally documented as a patron of the Harrison Avenue saloons. Molly Brown, later famous for surviving the Titanic sinking in 1912, lived in Leadville with her husband J.J. Brown during his early mining career and is similarly documented as a figure in the city's social life during that period.
Atlas Obscura, in its entry on the saloon, documents the noose display and the paranormal claims. History.net included the Silver Dollar Saloon among historically documented haunted western saloons.
Sources
The hanging noose — the actual rope used in Leadville's last public execution, by account — hangs as a displayed artifact in the Silver Dollar Saloon. Staff and early-morning visitors describe finding it moving with a slow sway when the bar is otherwise still, with no draft or air movement that would account for the motion. The phenomenon is the bar's most consistently reported paranormal claim.
Paranormal investigators visiting the saloon have claimed to detect as many as eight distinct spirits in the building. The claim is not independently verified through primary sources, but the number is specific enough to have become part of the bar's documented paranormal profile.
Leadvilletwinlakes.com documents an additional claim: a photographed apparition reportedly captured at the saloon, adding a visual component to the pattern of reports. The historical photographs of Leadville-area hangings that line the walls of the bar provide a visceral context for the paranormal associations — the bar was a documented gathering place during the era when those executions occurred, and the proximity of the noose to its historical weight is unusual among artifacts of this kind.
Atlas Obscura's entry on the Silver Dollar Saloon documents the 1879 founding, the noose artifact, and the paranormal claims as a unified account of why the location carries its reputation.
Notable Entities
The Silver Dollar Saloon has operated continuously since 1879, when it opened as the Board of Trade Saloon. The actual noose from Leadville's last public hanging is displayed on the premises, with historical photographs of local hangings on the walls. Paranormal investigators have claimed eight spirits reside in the bar. Doc Holliday and Molly Brown are documented historical regulars.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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