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From the Bay Area to Sonoma County to small traces left behind in Oregon and Washington, the Jack London literary trail of the west coast is expansive. The author and adventurer spent his early years in Oakland and eventually moved to the “Beauty Ranch” in Glen Ellen, CA where he wrote most of his novels. Here’s a list of Jack London literary sites you shouldn’t miss when you’re on the West Coast.

JACK LONDON LITERARY SITES OF THE WEST COAST

Birthplace Plaque
San Francisco, CA

We begin the Jack London literary trail with the place of his birth. Jack London, born John Griffith Chaney, came into the world at this site on January 12, 1876. The home that was here then, at 615 Third Street, and was sadly destroyed by the fires caused by the devastating earthquake that hit San Francisco on April 18th, 1906. A simple plaque placed on a building in 1953 by the California Historical Society marks the birth home of one the most prolific writers of the 20th Century.

601 Third Street, San Francisco 94107

University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA

London desperately wanted to study at the University of California, Berkeley and was afforded the chance to after he passed the entrance exams in the summer of 1896. Unfortunately, he’d only last one semester before running out of funds. Once those were depleted, he set off for the Klondike for his chance to join the gold rush in the summer of 1897.

The only building still surviving on the Berkeley campus that would have been there during London’s time is South Hall, and it’s the only building that’s left of the original campus. It was the counterpart to North Hall which was razed to make room for what is now the Bancroft Library. The Leuschner Observatory would have also been at Berkeley when London attended though the observatory was relocated ten miles away in Lafayette, CA in 1965. 

University Avenue and Oxford Street, Berkeley, CA 94720

Jack London Square
Oakland, CA

It wouldn’t be a Jack London literary trail without stopping in Oakland, the town of his youth. An ode to Jack London’s old stomping grounds, Jack London Square is an entertainment and business district on the waterfront of Oakland. You’ll find many eateries, bars, and hotels as well as plenty of pedestrian paths, greenspaces, and outdoor seating. Owned by the Port of Oakland, the area was dedicated and aptly named in 1951. 

The two most Jack London-y things to see here are the Jack London cabin and Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon (and don’t miss the bronze canine statue recalling White Fang and Call of the Wild just outside the cabin). They are adjacent to each other just off of Webster Street where it meets Embarcadero West.

When London went up to the Yukon territory of Canada to join the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897 he lived in a cabin in Dawson City. When he left Canada, the cabin was abandoned and may have been lost to history had a few trappers not noticed London’s signature on the wall. The cabin was completely dismantled in 1965 and two sister replicas were created from the original logs–one in Dawson City and the other constructed in its present day location in Oakland. 

Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon started as a bunkhouse for local oyster bed workers when it was built from scrap material from an old whaling ship in 1880. Three years later a Philly guy named Johnny Heinold purchased the building for $100 and turned it into a watering hole. The “first and last chance” in its name references it as a place where sailors had the first and last opportunity to inebriate themselves either before or after a long voyage out to sea.

It served as a hangout for London when he was finishing his high school education. He’d often read and study at the bar’s tables (there is a photo of him doing this on the bar’s wall) and it was even Heinold who lent him some money for tuition when he was accepted to study at The University of California, Berkeley. London spent so much time here that the bar began providing inspiration for his future characters and scenes in novels like White Fang, Call of the Wild, and The Sea Wolf. 

The building survived the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake though the quake caused part of the floor to sink giving it the slant and unevenness present today. Take a moment to look at all of the old photographs behind the chicken wire on the wall–many of them taken before the earthquake. The old woodburner still sits in the middle of the bar, once the only heat source for the establishment. To the right of the woodburner note that the clock on the wall is stopped at 5:18–the exact time that the earthquake hit.

Draft beers priced at $8 and wines by the glass $6 are somewhat inexpensive, relatively speaking, and there is a lovely patio out front with picnic tables to enjoy. Though note Heinold’s is not kid friendly and no one under 21 is allowed within the establishment (even outside). Prepare to be asked for ID (which may serve as flattery to some, as it did me). They don’t serve food and their opening hours vary.

During Covid-19 the bar was closed from March 16, 2020 to April 3, 2021 marking the second only time in history the bar had to shut down (the first was during–you guessed it–the earthquake). Heinold’s is located at 48 Webster Street.

Walk along Water Street toward Broadway for a fifth of a mile and where Broadway ends there is a bronze statue of Jack London himself. The sculpture was created by artist Cedric Wentworth and dedicated in 1996. The bronze relief on the ground reads:

“I would rather be ashes than dust.

I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze 

than it should be stifled by dry rot. 

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me 

in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. 

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. 

I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. 

I shall use my time.”

472 Water Street, Oakland, CA 94607

Jack London Historic State Park
Glen Ellen, CA

The best way to embrace the legacy of Jack London is to spend time where he once lived in Glen Ellen, CA, now the Jack London State Historic Park. Easy to spend an entire day here, the park includes the opportunity to tour the “House of Happy Walls” which is the house that London’s wife, Charmian, built and lived in after his death (now doubling as a museum and visitor’s center), the Wolf House ruins that burned to the ground in 1913, the cottage Jack and Charmian lived in together for years, and a number of farm outbuildings and winery ruins. For more reading about the lives of Jack and Charmian together try American Dreamers: Charmian and Jack London by Clarice Stasz.

Additionally, the property has over 25 miles of hiking trails, beautiful views, and plenty of picnic tables. Pack a lunch and make a day out of it–and possibly plan for a tasting at a nearby winery or dinner at the Glen Ellen Star afterward. The park is located roughly an hour and a half north of San Francisco in Sonoma County.

2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen, CA 95442

Park open daily 9am-5pm; museum open daily 10am-5pm; cottage open daily 12pm-4pm; closed Christmas day

Admission fees vary–most visitors will pay a $10 vehicle entry fee

Wolf Creek Inn & Tavern
Wolf Creek, OR

The Jack London literary trail goes beyond California! Adjacent to the historic Applegate Trail, the Wolf Creek Inn and Tavern has long been a refuge for weary travelers. It’s the oldest continually operated hotel in the Pacific Northwest. President Rutherford B. Hayes stayed here as did writer Sinclair Lewis. It became a haven for Hollywood’s elite such as Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and Orson Welles.

But long before Gable was escaping Hollywood for the tranquility of Wolf Creek (while fishing on the Rogue River), Jack London was a regular guest of the Inn. He and Charmian would rent a small room over the front porch. This is where he finished Valley of the Moon and completed a short story called “The End of the Story.” He was such a favored guest that nearby London Peak is named in his honor.

100 Front Street, Wolf Creek, OR 97497

Restaurant open Thursday through Sunday from 8:30am-8:30pm

Port Townsend Old City Hall
Port Townsend, WA

If you make it all the way up to this tippy-top port town of Washington, try to make time to visit the original City Hall which now houses the Jefferson Museum of Art and History. The old jail cells in the basement are fun for kids (and adults) to explore and once housed a drunken Jack London for a night. He was in Port Townsend when his ship stopped there from California on its way up to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. Legend says that he was brought in by a prostitute as he was so drunk she was worried for his safety.

540 Water Street, Port Townsend, WA 98368

Open Thursday-Sunday 11am-4pm; every first Saturday 11am-7pm

Admission: $9 adults, $7 seniors and military; Free for members, youth, and on first Saturdays

Those are the best the Jack London literary sites of the West Coast! If you feel like there’s anything I missed please let me know in the comments.