Florida's oldest bar since 1903 — bartender Uncle Charlie died in 1960 and reportedly never left his post
117 Centre St, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
No cover charge; bar prices standard
Access
Wheelchair OK
Street-level historic downtown building
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1878 · Florida's Oldest Operating Bar · Fernandina Beach Historic District · National Register of Historic Places · Prohibition Era Survival
The two-story Prescott Building at 117 Centre Street dates to 1878, when Fernandina Beach was a bustling Atlantic port handling lumber, phosphate, and shrimp traffic. Owner Louis G. Hirth converted the haberdashery into the Palace Saloon in 1903, enlisting his friend Adolphus Busch — founder of Anheuser-Busch — to help design the interior. The resulting barroom featured a 40-foot mahogany bar, hand-carved caryatid figures, embossed tin ceilings, and mosaic tile floors that remain largely intact today.
Among the many saloons then lining the harbor district — more than twenty at the Palace's peak — it alone earned the distinction of being the 'Shipcaptain's Bar,' a designation marking it as the preferred drinking establishment for the officers of ships in port. Hirth ran it with considerable flair and, according to local accounts, was resourceful enough to out-survive every competitor.
When Prohibition came in 1919, local tradition holds that Hirth sold liquor until midnight on the final legal night, grossing $60,000 in a single day. Through the dry years the Palace stayed open selling Texaco gasoline, ice cream, cigars, and near-beer. The building survived a damaging fire in 1999 — the back room where bartender Charlie Beresford had lived was barely touched — and was subsequently restored.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (reference #73000593) as part of the Fernandina Beach Historic District.
Sources
Charles Beresford arrived at the Palace Saloon in 1906 and stayed for 54 years. He became a fixture — friendly, generous with bets, and known for wagering patrons they couldn't land coins on the bust rims of the statues behind the bar. He swept the change at the end of each night. He lived in a room above the bar and died there in 1960.
Accounts of his continued presence surfaced almost immediately. When a new bartender tried to keep Beresford's coin game alive, a guest reported a distinct cold pressure pressing down on his shoulders. Closing-time staff have described music, conversation, and glasses clinking in a bar they knew to be empty. The venue's original electric player piano — unplugged for years — has been reported starting up at odd hours with no mechanical explanation offered by anyone who has investigated it.
The Palace's website features Uncle Charlie as part of its official tour of the property. Local ghost tour operators include the saloon on their routes, citing it among the more consistent paranormal locations in Fernandina Beach.
Notable Entities
Walk into a working saloon whose 40-foot bar, hand-carved mahogany caryatids, embossed tin ceilings, and inlaid mosaic floors date to 1903. Bartenders are well-versed in the building's history. The back room where Uncle Charlie died above his bar is part of the original structure. Open daily 11 AM–2 AM.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Jacksonville Beach, FL
The building at 1318 Beach Blvd was constructed in 1950 and served successive commercial tenants — a dress shop, grocery store, and glass shop — before Darlene Edith 'Ginger' Payson opened her bar there in 1976. Payson had worked as a burlesque performer across Jacksonville for decades, with acts including 'Tiza, The Girl in the Goldfish Bowl' and 'The Original Shower Girl.' Three of her sons were killed in a shrimping accident; their bodies washed ashore near the building. Payson operated the bar until her death in 2003.
St. Augustine, FL
The building at 46 Avenida Menendez has been continuously occupied since the Spanish colonial period. An 18th-century resident named Catalina de Porras is associated with the building's earliest documented history. The structure most prominently enters the historical record through an 1887 fire in which a woman died in the kitchen. The building has cycled through restaurant identities including Chart House, Catalina's Garden, and Puerta Verde before operating as Harry's.
Sanford, FL
Theo and Linda Hollerbach opened Hollerbach's German Restaurant at 205 E 1st Street in Sanford in 2001, building it into one of the Central Florida region's most recognized independent German dining destinations. The historic downtown Sanford building dates to the commercial construction boom following Sanford's 1887 fire, which led the city to replace wooden structures with brick. The 2020 Hollerblock expansion extended the restaurant to 665 seats and added a rooftop biergarten.