Originally constructed in 1880 from the remnants of a whaling ship, this building was purchased and coverted into a saloon in 1883 by Johnny Heinhold. The name refers to the first and last place sailors could get a drink before hitting the open sea, and the pub was frequented by sailors and adventurers.

After Jack London returned from a fishing trip to Japan and gold-prospecting in the Klondike, the 17-year-old would study at the bar to complete his high school education. London told Heinhold of his desire to attend college to become a writer, and Heinhold lent him the money to attend the University of California at Berkeley.

Although London only finished one year at the university, London used many figures from his time at Heinhold's in his writings (including Captain Alex MacLean, who became Wolf Larsen in The Sea Wolf).

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John Griffith "Jack" London (born John Griffith Chaney) was born at this location on January 12, 1876.

The American author who wrote the novels The Call of the Wild and White Fang, and the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life", spent the early years of his life at this location.

The home burned down in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake fire, and the plaque celebrating London was placed here in 1953.

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American author Willa Cather lived in Red Cloud, NE starting in 1884 at the age of nine. She used the town for several settings in her novels (including Black Hawk in My Ántonia).

Since then, twenty buildings in Red Cloud have been added to the National Historic Register because of their connection to the work of the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, the largest such distinction for any American author.

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Jack Kerouac was living in this home with his third wife, Stella, and his mother when he suffered an internal hemorrhage caused by cirrhosis. He died on October 21, 1969 at the age of 47.

The house has remained essentially the same since the time his mother died in 1972. Today, some efforts are being made to salvage the house and turn it into a museum or writer's retreat.

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One of the largest independent bookstores in the Southeast, Haslam's was frequented by Jack Kerouac as he spent the last years of his life in St. Petersburg. Kerouac apparently disapproved of the alphabetical placement of his books on the bottom shelf, so he would move them up to eye level.

Although some people claim that Kerouac's ghost still haunts the store, a cat named Teacup guards steadfastly against intruders, both physical and supernatural.

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