National Register #00001067
Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon
56 Jack London Square
Oakland
Built 1880
Built of lumber salvaged from a whaling ship in 1880, this building was a bunkhouse
for workers in the oyster beds until J.M. Heinold purchased it in 1883 and converted it
into J.M. Heinold's Saloon for sailors and dock hands.
During the first half of the 20th Century, the Oakland-Alameda ferry stopped near Heinold's,
making the saloon the first and last chance for a drink. Eventually, this privileged
location was incorporated into the name.
Jack London is closely associated with Heinold's. While still a schoolboy, he studied here at
tables still in use today.
(I don't know why the sign on the facade reads Heinolds' rather than Heinold's.
The latter is clearly correct. Chalk it up to the American tendency to regard punctuation as
decorative rather than significant.)
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