Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon resurrected over Easter weekend

(Refugio Garcia/News Break)

By Refugio Garcia

(OAKLAND, Calif.) On Saturday at 3 p.m., Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon reopened after being shuttered for over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re able to open up again after about a year and two weeks,” said George Stafford, who’s been tending bar at the saloon for three years.

The tiny wooden relic from a bygone area rests near the waterfront in the center of Jack London Square and offers a stark historical juxtaposition against its surroundings that lures the imagination back to a time in Oakland when the bar welcomed patrons who’d traveled across a drawbridge from Alameda or said ‘farewell’ to servicemen departing from the Port of Oakland.

The small building was first erected between 1871 and 1875. It was constructed of timber reclaimed from an abandoned stern-wheel paddle steamer called the “Umatilla.” The saloon was first opened on June 1, 1884, by Johnny Heinold, who worked with a carpenter to make renovations and named the establishment J.M. Heinold’s Saloon.

“This is only the third time we’ve been closed in nearly 140 years,” said Elliott Myles, who purchased the saloon in 2016.

Myles also noted that he’s only the second proprieter of the saloon outside the Heinold family in the same span of time.

One’s attention is immediately drawn to the steep slant that descends from the front door past the bar upon entering the saloon’s thick musky atmosphere.

“The first closure was because of the 1906 earthquake,” Myles said. “That’s how we got the slant.”

(Refugio Garcia/News Break)

The second closure of the saloon was due to a surgery that Heinold underwent in 1929 and remained closed for three months.

During the era of Prohibition, the saloon remained open, serving only soda, candy and cigars.

Also known as “Jack London’s Rendezvous,” the saloon shares a close history with the author for which the area is named.

London purchased his first sailboat called the “Razzle Dazzle” from a patron at the saloon at the age of 15. He later told Heinold of his ambitions to attend the University of California to become a writer. Heinold lent London the money to cover the cost of tuition.

While London didn’t make it past his first semester of college, he became keen on the idea of adventure while listening to the tales told by sailors and stevedores who frequented the establishment.

First and Last Chance Saloon is mentioned numerous times in London’s autobiography “John Barleycorn.”

(Refugio Garcia/News Break)

“It’s hard to separate the history from the serving of alcohol,” Myles said. “It’s a museum where you can drink.”

Myles is currently producing a book titled "Step Down," which aims to sort the “folklore from the fakelore” surrounding Johnny Heinold, the ancient saloon and the history that surrounds it.

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