The Snake Pit in the Westminster Hotel has been in operation since 1898. It opens daily at 9:00am, one of the two bars left in the Yukon that open at this time. This Tavern is decorated with original oil paintings and murals depicting local life both past and present in Dawson City. A hand-made birch bark canoe hangs over the bar. The building is original and the materials used in construction are of the gold rush era. Due to permafrost and shifting foundations the floor has a certain lean to it and you are never sure if it is the libation or the building that makes you stagger on the way out the door.