Oldest (still operating) pool rooms in U.S.

Seriously, I don't know how Hawaii maintains any sort of a pool community. I was there for two weeks last month and not only is there very little pool (none in Maui), there's almost no desire to be indoors or out at night. I'm sure it's different on O'ahu but can't imagine it's anything like New York.

Gambling in Hawaii is strictly prohibited, so gamblers have to go to the pool hall to get any action.
 
Seriously, I don't know how Hawaii maintains any sort of a pool community. I was there for two weeks last month and not only is there very little pool (none in Maui), there's almost no desire to be indoors or out at night. I'm sure it's different on O'ahu but can't imagine it's anything like New York.

The Sports Page in Kihei has decent bar tables. Nice little sports bar
 
Brunswick Billiards in Cedartown, Georgia has been open since either the 1920's or 1930's. They still rack the balls for you.

25 cents for short rack and 50 cent for full rack?

Freddie <~~~ loved that kind of room
 
I remember at one time, Baker's in Tampa was the oldest pool room, but it finally closed its doors. That's where I met Grady Mathews for the first time. He was driving an old Cadillac with points, and he had a baby pitbull puppy in the car with him. :grin:

According to this article, Baker's opened in 1942. I'll bet this pool room has lots of memories for folks. We played a ring game of 9-ball on a snooker table there. I remember it was cattycorner from a nice little corner bar, and you could see Tampa Stadium from the pool room. Oh, yeah. There was also a Western Union office nearby. :embarrassed2:

Here's the article ---> HERE

Sounds like you were at the old Dale Mabry Billiards also, it was near the stadium, Bakers is near downtown.
 
Booches in Columbia MO

Founded in 1884, Booches is a restaurant and pool hall at 110 S. 9th Street in downtown Columbia, Missouri. Their cheeseburgers, which are served on wax paper, were named one of the top ten burgers in America by USA Today in 2000. In 2005, Jerry Shriver of USA Today included Booches's hamburger on the list of top 25 dishes from his "Down-home Dining" project.[1]

Booches has three full-sized pool tables, two snooker tables, and one billiard table (no pockets) for three cushion billiards play. Booches hosts yearly invitation-only Snooker and 3-cushion tournaments.

Booches is known for the saying "Closed on Sunday, see you in church," among other witticisms posted on their walls, including "Unattended children will be sold as slaves" and "No sniveling." Also adorning the walls are faux-original comic strips incorporating Booches's regulars, team photos of the Mizzou football teams in the early 1900s, and other old-time sports memorabilia.

During the mid to late 1970s, the then-owners of Booches's edited and published four issues of the Review la Booche, a literary journal featuring poetry, prose, sketches and photographs by contributors of such prominence as John Ciardi, William Stafford, Elton Glaser, Frank Stack and Richard Eberhart, along with local and regional contributors. The review was revived in 1990 for a fifth and final issue.

Booches received its name when its original owner, Paul Blucher Venable, was nicknamed "Booch" as a child by writer Eugene Field. The restaurant has gone through many owners in its time and was male-only until the 1970s. Today, it is a haven for University of Missouri and St. Louis Cardinals sports fans, and has a considerably more family-friendly atmosphere.

Handwritten gift certificates are sold at this restaurant.


One a hard core pool hall they now make far more money now from food than pool.
 
Gambling in Hawaii is strictly prohibited, so gamblers have to go to the pool hall to get any action.

Perhaps if I visited O'ahu, I would have gotten to see that. On Maui, there were no poolrooms to be found and very few bars with tables. We went to one bar with three tables and it was far from a gambling scene.

In truth, I could see how pool *could* work in Hawaii. Obviously, it does in some parts but I could also see how rooms fail to survive there. On Maui, people do outside stuff. If I moved there, I would quit pool entirely and never think about it.
 
Sounds like you were at the old Dale Mabry Billiards also, it was near the stadium, Bakers is near downtown.

I'm not sure of Dale Mabry Billiards, but the one we were at was Baker's. The parking lot was to the left of the building.

My road partner lost a big chunkie on the snooker table, and when he walked outside, he threw his cue on the ground, he was so pissed off. Right at that moment, here comes Grady Mathews around the corner. He knew my friend, saw he was in despair, so he picks up his cue, hands it to him, and says, "You shouldn't do that to your stick." Then Grady took us out to dinner. That was the first time I ever met him. I thought he was such a nice man. :cool:

I sure do wish I had a camera back then when I went on the road. I'd have some pretty cool pool photos. Here's me an Grady. He was always so happy when he was in the pool room back then, always brandishing a smile. :cool:
 

Attachments

  • New Orleans 009.jpg
    New Orleans 009.jpg
    83.6 KB · Views: 303
San Fransisco

I was in San Francisco last year I think and played at a place down town.

I asked about several of the old places that I heard about and there were either torn down or I was warned not to play there.

Talk about history!

The other places I wanted to play at were in LA/Hollywood and I havent made it down there.

Ken
 
Self proclaimed oldest is Ortons in Wilmington
1880's IIRC

My youngest boy works at Nick's Deli, a few doors away from Orton's. He doesn't play, but when I visit him this winter I plan on dragging his ass in there to check it out. S'posed to be haunted, if you go in for that sort of stuff.
 
My youngest boy works at Nick's Deli, a few doors away from Orton's. He doesn't play, but when I visit him this winter I plan on dragging his ass in there to check it out. S'posed to be haunted, if you go in for that sort of stuff.

Well, if I went to that pool room, I guess I'd be playing the ghost. :thumbup:
 
If you do include and play at Ames in NYC (W.47th & 7th), then you've missed a golden opportunity.....dates back to the 40's. And play on the same table that Gleason and Newman did in the movie. It's pure nostalgia and more gambling was done there after WW II than you'd otherwise imagine. Right thru the 50's, 60's and 70's, Ames was the mecca of pool and high stakes games in Manhattan and the surrounding burroughs.
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure of Dale Mabry Billiards, but the one we were at was Baker's. The parking lot was to the left of the building.

My road partner lost a big chunkie on the snooker table, and when he walked outside, he threw his cue on the ground, he was so pissed off. Right at that moment, here comes Grady Mathews around the corner. He knew my friend, saw he was in despair, so he picks up his cue, hands it to him, and says, "You shouldn't do that to your stick." Then Grady took us out to dinner. That was the first time I ever met him. I thought he was such a nice man. :cool:

I sure do wish I had a camera back then when I went on the road. I'd have some pretty cool pool photos. Here's me an Grady. He was always so happy when he was in the pool room back then, always brandishing a smile. :cool:

That ring game and golf game on snooker table was always a big money maker for Lefty, they played 9 ball on that monster also, that pool had allot of sharks swimming in it, goose, stigall and cook just to name a few, your friend was fortunate to even walk out of there with his cue.
I would watch that game and think, one day I will be good enough, so around 87 Wayne Gunn made me a new shaft for my old Palmer, we flip for break, I win the toss, break with my new shaft on, and sink the 9 in the right hand corner off the snooker table.
I wish I had taken pictures back then also, I was just a kid when I started hangin out there during the day during summer vacation, my mom worked downtown, so Bakers was my summer school, it was huge responsability just to keep my cue from getting left behind, much less a camera, all we had back then was my Dad's 35mm Petri, we were not even allowed to touch it.
That is very cool about Grady, Dale Nichols from the Flamingo says hi.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JAM
http://smithsbilliards.com/

They're no longer the oldest continuously run pool hall (they shut down for a little while and then started up again a few years ago), but it's still in the same old place, down a side street, up the stairs.

1902.

Hey Fred!! I was waiting patiently for you to mention Smitty's. Great to hear they've re-opened! What a classic old time pool hall that is!
 
Great stuff! Keep them coming! Petey, what's the name of the room?

Caswell Billiards. You will see the room listed in pre- 1992 Billiards Digest
They had old thin brown house cues and a house man that racked the balls for you.
He would also use a pill bottle and "shake" you for anything in the room.cues,drinks etc
You would shake the bottle and draw two pills, the high pills won or a pair beat anything
 
I'm not sure of Dale Mabry Billiards, but the one we were at was Baker's. The parking lot was to the left of the building.

My road partner lost a big chunkie on the snooker table, and when he walked outside, he threw his cue on the ground, he was so pissed off. Right at that moment, here comes Grady Mathews around the corner. He knew my friend, saw he was in despair, so he picks up his cue, hands it to him, and says, "You shouldn't do that to your stick." Then Grady took us out to dinner. That was the first time I ever met him. I thought he was such a nice man. :cool:

I sure do wish I had a camera back then when I went on the road. I'd have some pretty cool pool photos. Here's me an Grady. He was always so happy when he was in the pool room back then, always brandishing a smile. :cool:

You are sure right about Grady being a nice man. The first time I met him was in Cleveland in 1993 or so. I was touring with my band and saw him in the lobby of the hotel we were staying at on a day off. I told him I was a huge pool fan and recognized him from The Color Of Money and he laughed and said you recognized me from that 30 second spot??? I showed him and Jimmy Fusco our tour bus and they both walked me 3 blocks away to a round robin 14.1 tournament. Such a great memory..Thanks for sharing Jenny:-)
 
  • Like
Reactions: JAM
If I were going to travel across the U.S. and wanted to visit the oldest pool rooms that are still running, which rooms would you forum members suggest?

I'm not sure what year it opened but if you're in California in the LA area check out Hardtimes in Bellflower. There is a ton of history there and with a lot of stories if you are a big fan of pool. It's a players paradise that is if you know how to match up:-).
 
Back
Top