The exact age of Prescott's Palace Saloon is something of a puzzle. The first reliable documentation is an item from the September 21, 1877 Arizona Weekly Miner: "Mess'rs Shaw and Standefer have fitted up the Palace Saloon in the most superb style and fitted it with choice liquors of every conceivable kind."
An 1883 fire destroyed most of "The Row", including the Palace. Owner Robert Brow rebuilt in brick, with a stone foundation and iron roof. The interior featured a 20 foot long bar and beautiful back-bar, which had been shipped by boat and freight wagon to Prescott, three gaming tables and two club rooms.
On July 14, 1900, much of downtown Prescott burned to the ground, including the "fireproof" Palace Saloon. Patrons managed to salvage much of the liquor and the bar, all taken across the street to the Plaza, where drinks were served as the fire progressed. After the fire, Robert Brow and the owners of the Cabinet Saloon pooled their interests and determined to build "the finest and best club house, saloon, cafe, etc. that Arizona has ever had, or in fact that can be found west of the Mississippi River".
The new Palace Hotel, designed in the New-Classical Revival style, took over the front page of the June 29, 1901 Prescott Journal Miner. It was the most elegant pleasure resort along "The Row". The Miner described the interior furnishings as "rich and elegant" with only the best materials used. The bar and fixtures were described as "the crowning features of the furnishings" and without doubt the most elegant in this part of the country". Three large gaming tables encouraged faro, poker, roulette, kino and craps. A glass of beer was five cents, and a man could pay for his drinks with unminted gold.
In 1907 a State law outlawed wagering and games of change, along with their "attendant evils" and Prohibition during World War I closed many a saloon, but the Palace held on. In 1996 The Palace was closed and in severely deteriorated condition when restoration began. Working from old photographs, the elegance of the Palace Hotel and Saloon of 1901 was recaptured. The Palace is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
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