The varied history of Utah's oldest continuously running saloon

HUNTSVILLE, Utah (KUTV) — Utah is home to what is believed to be one of the oldest continuously running bars west of the Mississippi River. The Shooting Star Saloon,in Huntsville, is also the oldest bar in the state still open.

The Weber County saloon first opened in 1879 and was named Holken's Saloon, named after the saloon’s original owner, Holken Olsen.

At the time, Olsen was known as "slippery Olsen" because "he was pretty slippery with the cops,” said Velma Ahlstrom, a volunteer with the Huntsville History Library.

Ahlstrom said Olsen spent a lot of time in jail, and they have pages and pages of court documents to prove it.

“For selling liquor when it was outlawed, when prohibition was on — and for disturbing the peace, quarreling and fighting,” she said.

The saloon survived through prohibition and has had different owners and names through its 143 year history. However, tracking the history of a saloon has its challenges.

“You hear a lot of stories in a bar,” said Carol Stoker with the Huntsville History Library.

Stoker said it can be hard to separate fact from the tall tales, but a lot of the saloon's history still remains inside, including the taxidermy head of a 289-pound St. Bernard and the dollar bills that cover the ceiling. Stoker said her uncle was the first person to leave a dollar there.

“He was there the night before he left for World War II," she said.

Stoker said her uncle had one dollar left, and the bartender asked what he wanted to do with it.

“He says, I’ll use it when I come back," she said.

Her uncle did make it back, and now thousands of bills cover the ceiling. People from all over come to experience the history, atmosphere and, of course, the delicious burgers.

Longtime locals remember the many different forms of the saloon. Ahlstrom said as a child, she could always find her uncle there.

"When we'd come home from school, we'd stop there and yell 'Uncle Clifford,' hoping he'd come out and give us money so that we could go buy candy,” she said. “He did that, and my mother didn't mind because she thought, 'Well he'll just spend it on beer anyways.”

Stoker said another past owner was known for taking the town’s widows to the saloon around Christmas and giving them burgers and poinsettias.

The Shooting Star is still known for its burgers; specifically the Star Burger, two ground-beef patties topped with Polish sausage and cheese.