The Tollgate Tavern has been run by the Otis family for three generations and has been in continuous operation as a saloon since 1878. During the gold rush, it was one of 13 watering holes along a three-quarter-mile strip of Consistency’s main drag, now it and the Talleyrand Hotel are all that remain.
The legends regarding Otis family patriarch—and original owner of the Tollgate Tavern—Old Tommy, are as numerous as they are baroque: He won the saloon (then known as the Likely Lads) from local gambler Edward Sullivan in a boxing match in 1909. He was said to have had a torrid affair with Tallulah Bankhead. He claimed to be a direct descendant of French explorer Robert La Salle. He had rescued Teddy Roosevelt from drowning in the San Juan River. He invented the Singapore Sling. Once, during a bar fight, he killed two men with a single punch. He was an expert knife thrower. He was fluent in Mandarin, Tagalog and Portuguese.
We do know that at least one tale is true—Old Tommy kept two Barbadian Green Monkeys as pets in the Tavern. Ferdinand and Little Pisser, as they were known, would beg for change from the customers and then hop up to the counter and buy themselves beers, which Old Tommy would serve to them in tiny mugs. Ferdinand even learned how to work the tap for himself. After they died, Old Tommy kept their pickled heads on display in a jar, with the motto Fortiter in re, suaviter in modo, embossed in gold filigree.
In July of 1948, Old Tommy slipped off a stool while changing a light bulb in the Tollgate’s lavatory and broke his neck. It is said his apparition lingers about the bathroom stalls on summer nights—those who’ve encountered his ghost claim to see a shadowy, hulking figure, whispering something unintelligible. As can be expected, the ghost story reels in the tourists, especially since 2004, when The Tollgate Tavern was featured on the premiere episode of the Travel Channel program, America’s Most Haunted Lavatories.
