The Palace Saloon: an excerpt from the upcoming Haunts & Hollows: Florida Coast.
For a short time, Fernandina Beach was a fashionable destination for luminaries from the worlds of business, politics, and entertainment. Well-heeled families — including names like Rockefeller, Ford, and Carnegie — mingled with stars like Mary Pickford, Stan Laurel, and Oliver Hardy while local guest registries welcomed President Ulysses S. Grant, Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti, and countless others.
To capitalize on this influx of wealth, local businessmen learned to pivot quickly. Down on 3rd Street, the resourceful Major Thomas Leddy and his wife Annie purchased the Florida House with an eye for renovation. Allegedly built by David Yulee’s Florida Railroad Company in 1857, the building had housed Union officers during the Civil War. The Florida House soon became an elite retreat for visiting dignitaries, and the Leddy’s secured their place in North Florida society.
Today, the House remains a well-reviewed bed and breakfast. One other thing hasn’t changed. After her death in 1908, Annie was buried next to her husband in nearby Bosque Bello Cemetery. Her signature lavender perfume, however, continues to greet Florida House guests more than 100 years after her passing.
Around the corner and just off Centre Street, the Palace Saloon shared a similar, humble beginning. Built in 1878 as a gentleman’s haberdashery, the original Prescott Building was purchased 25 years later by local businessman Louis G. Hirth. He imagined a watering hole that offered a more upscale experience than the more than 20 other harbor district bars in Fernandina. The Palace Saloon opened in 1903, and soon Major Leddy’s exclusive guests found a new place to quench their thirsts.
In 1906, a local lad named Charlie Beresford joined the Palace Saloon staff as a novice bartender. For more than 50 years, Charlie was a fixture at the saloon. Even during the years of Prohibition when the business survived by serving ice cream to overheated tourists. Hirth rewarded the young man’s excellent work by gifting him a bar of his own in the same building. Uncle Charlie’s poured drinks for a decidedly different clientele: blue collar workers, railroad men, sailors, and the like.
In addition to his friendly service, Charlie became known for a game of his own design. He’d bet tipsy patrons that they couldn’t flip a quarter onto the carved mahogany décolletage of one of the lady busts behind the bar. Each night, Charlie would end his shift by sweeping up the quarters from countless failed attempts. This tradition continued until 1960 when Charlie died quietly while sleeping in his room above the Palace Saloon.
Like Annie Leddy, Charlie Beresford may not have ever left the business he loved. When later bartenders tried to reboot the game of quarters, they reported a cold sensation like a hand on their shoulders. Patrons and staff alike claim to have heard the rustle of metal near closing time, like the sound of quarters being swept into a pile.
Haunts & Hollows Travel Guides
Want to learn more? Check out Haunts & Hollows: Georgia Backroads, our road trip guidebook to the dark side of the Peach State. For previews and info on places like this, sign up for our monthly email newsletter. You can also visit our home at Arca Noctis — a world market of the odd, obscure, and unusual.
