United Nations of Beer

The Peerless Saloon

by Kevin Duquette
(Fort Mitchell, AL)

The Peerless Saloon
Anniston, AL, USA
Visit the UNOB's Alabama beer guide

I recently was able to check out The Peerless Saloon in Anniston, AL, while I was attending a class in the area. This turn of the century saloon is a great little place, with a very historic feel.

As soon as you walk in the door you feel like you're back in the early 1900s. The huge mirror backed mahogany bar was featured at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis and has been in the building since shortly after the fair, around 1906 we were told by the barkeep.

I had a nice pint of Guinness beer and sat at the bar while we were given the history of the building and what I think may be a tall tale about a bullet hole in the mirror, but it was a fun story none the less and it added to the charm of the place.

The upstairs of the building is now called the Atlanta room, but back in 1899 until the late 1920s it was a brothel until prohibition shut down more than just the alcohol operations. In 1985 the bar was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and was saved from demolition.

The Peerless Saloon was reopened in 1992 in much the same condition it may have been in during the '20s.

I am glad I happened to stop in to The Peerless Saloon on my visit to Anniston. I came in for a beer, but left with a little bit of a history lesson on life in Alabama at the turn of the century.