Inside one of New York City's oldest and most famous bars, which serves only 2 beers and didn't allow women in until 1970

Sarah Jacobs/Business Insider

A bartender at McSorley's Old Ale House, one of the oldest bars in New York.

• Established in 1854, McSorley's Old Ale House is one of New York City's oldest bars.
• The bar is still open in its original location.
• Hundreds of items hang on its walls, some of which have been there since the day it opened.

McSorley's Old Ale House is one of the oldest bars in New York City. Established in 1854, the bar still serves its signature ale and sits in the same location as it did from the beginning.

Plenty of famous people have walked through its doors, like Teddy Roosevelt, Woody Guthrie, John Lennon, Babe Ruth, Hunter S. Thompson, and Harry Houdini. President Abraham Lincoln is rumored to have paid McSorley's a visit, and E.E. Cummings even wrote a poem about the bar.

Going inside McSorley's feels like a trip back in time, and there are signs of its history all around. Ahead, take a look inside the famous ale house.