The Gold Pan started pouring in 1861 as Long's Saloon, a tented watering hole for miners; the permanent building rose on the same 103 N Main Street site in 1879 and never stopped serving. It is Summit County's longest-running saloon, holding what may be the oldest continuously held liquor license west of the Mississippi, and the Breckenridge Town Council has designated it a local historic landmark.

The backstory is colorful even by mining-town standards. During Prohibition the saloon served moonshine from a back room reached by underground tunnel, and it is believed to have hosted Breckenridge's last recorded gunfight.

Today it serves gastropub fare and drinks amid original Old West character, connected to the Breckenridge tasting room of Carboy Winery — the Colorado-owned independent that operates alongside it, keeping the oldest bar in town out of chain hands.