Merrell Tavern

Last updated

Merrell Tavern
Merrell Inn, South Lee MA.jpg
Merrell Inn
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location1565 Pleasant St.,
South Lee, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°16′36″N73°16′59″W / 42.27667°N 73.28306°W / 42.27667; -73.28306
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1794 (1794)
Architectural styleGreek Revival, Federal
Part of South Lee Historic District (ID99000237)
NRHP reference No. 72000136 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 23, 1972
Designated CPFebruary 18, 1999

The Merrell Tavern, known more recently as the Merrell Inn, is a historic tavern at 1565 Pleasant Street (Massachusetts Route 102) in South Lee, Massachusetts. Built in 1794 as a residence, it has served for most of two centuries as a local traveler's accommodation, and retains fine Federal period architectural details. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. [1] It continues to serve its historic function, and is now operated as a bed and breakfast inn.

Contents

Description and history

The Merrell Tavern is located on the south side of Pleasant Street, near the western end of the roughly linear village. It is a 3+12-story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a gable roof and brick sidewalls. The main facade is covered by a two-story porch extending across its full width. The porch is supported by tapered square columns on the first level, and round Doric columns on the second. [2]

The tavern was built as a residence in 1794 by Joseph Whiton, a local militia commander. It was one of the first brick houses of the Federal period in the region, with some of its design elements taken from the published drawings of Asher Benjamin. It was acquired in 1815 by the Merrell family, who would operate it has a tavern for over a century. The Merrells enlarged the building, adding its third story ballroom and its two-story porch in 1838. The inn's taproom is remarkably well-preserved, with nearly all of its original features intact, including painted oak graining. [3]

The inn was acquired in the 20th century by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England, or HNE), which operated it as one of its museum properties for a time. It has since been sold into private ownership, with preservation easements held by HNE.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Tavern</span> United States historic place

The Black Tavern is an historic tavern at 138-142 Dudley Center Road in Dudley, Massachusetts. The main block of the tavern was built c. 1803, and is one of the town's finest examples of Federal period architecture. It originally housed a major stop on the stagecoach route between Boston, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut. It is now maintained by a local preservation organization, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. In 2010 the listing was expanded to include the adjacent barn and annex, which the society acquired in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Lee Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The South Lee Historic District encompasses the historic portion of the village of South Lee in Lee, Massachusetts. Extending mainly along Massachusetts Route 102 between Fairview Street and the Stockbridge town line, the village is a well-preserved 19th-century mill village, with fine Federal and Greek Revival buildings and a later 19th-century paper mill. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cooper-Davenport Tavern Wing</span> Historic building in Massachusetts, United States

The Cooper–Davenport Tavern Wing is a historic building in Somerville, Massachusetts. Built c. 1806 by John Davenport as a wing to a 1757 tavern built by Jonathan Cooper, this is one of the few Federal-period buildings to survive in the city. Moved to its present location in the 1880s, it now houses residences. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inns on the National Road</span> Historic district in Maryland, United States

The Inns on the National Road is a national historic district near Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland. It originally consisted of 11 Maryland inns on the National Road and located in Allegany and Garrett counties. Those that remain stand as the physical remains of the almost-legendary hospitality offered on this well-traveled route to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Village of Monroe Historic District</span> Historic district in New York, United States

The Village of Monroe Historic District, also known as the Smith's Mill Historic District, is located in Monroe, New York, United States. It is an irregularly shaped 81-acre (33 ha) area containing 36 properties, primarily residential but with some churches and commercial buildings, in the center of the village, just east of its downtown. In 1998 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brick Tavern House</span> United States historic place

The Brick Tavern House is a former inn on the National Road west of St. Clairsville, Ohio, United States. One of the oldest National Road taverns still in existence, it was built in the early nineteenth century. Although it fell into dilapidation during the late twentieth century, it was named a historic site in 1995, and extensive restoration was to be performed in the early 2010s but to date, has not been.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyoming Village Historic District (Wyoming, New York)</span> Historic district in New York, United States

Wyoming Village Historic District is a national historic district located at the Village of Wyoming in Wyoming County, New York. The district covers about 45 acres (180,000 m2) and is organized as a New England village around a small triangular village green. The T-shaped district includes approximately 72 historic registered structures along two principal streets, Main and Academy Streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill's Tavern</span> United States historic place

Hill's Tavern is a historic building in Scenery Hill, Pennsylvania. It was heavily damaged by a fire that started shortly before midnight on August 17, 2015. For a period in the early 1900s, the inn was known as Central Hotel. Now called the Century Inn, it has been claimed to have been the oldest tavern in continuous use on the National Road, until the fire brought an end to its 221 years of continuous operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonesborough Historic District</span> Historic district in Tennessee, United States

The Jonesborough Historic District is a historic district in Jonesborough, Tennessee, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Jonesboro Historic District in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Ferris Inn</span> United States historic place

Glen Ferris Inn, also known as Stockton's Inn, Stockton's Tavern, and Hawkins's Hotel, is a historic hotel located on the bank of the Kanawha River overlooking Kanawha Falls at Glen Ferris, Fayette County, West Virginia. It may have been built as early as 1815. It is a T-shaped brick building in two sections. One section is a three-story, painted brick dwelling. The second is a two-story, red brick wing measuring 140 by 40 feet. The building features a wraparound porch supported by 13 stuccoed brick columns. In the 19th century, the building was a stagecoach stop and served as a Union quartermaster's depot during the American Civil War. In the first half of the 20th century, it housed managers, supervisors, and workers involved in developing the area's manufacturing and hydro-electric capacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jed Prouty Tavern and Inn</span> United States historic place

The Jed Prouty Tavern and Inn is an historic building at 57 Main Street in downtown Bucksport, Hancock County, Maine. It was built around 1780 as a two family home and was converted into a tavern and inn around 1820. In this guise it hosted prominent national figures, including Daniel Webster and Presidents Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison. After standing largely vacant in the later 20th century, the building was converted an assisted living facility, and presently serves as a community senior center. it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Clayville is a former roadside hamlet, inhabited from 1824 into the 1850s, located in Cartwright Township near Pleasant Plains, Illinois, United States. The settlement was never large but was firmly centered on a once-thriving tavern on the main road between the state capital of Springfield and the Illinois River port of Beardstown. The Broadwell Tavern continues to stand on its original foundation today as a reminder of the once-active frontier settlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President's House (Keene State College)</span> Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

The President's House of Keene State College, formerly the Catherine Fiske Seminary For Young Ladies, is a historic house at 251 Main Street in Keene, New Hampshire. Built in 1805 and restyled in the late 19th century, it is one of Keene's oldest brick residences, and now serves as the official residence of its president. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyman Tavern</span> Historic tavern in New Hampshire, United States

The Wyman Tavern is a historic house, former tavern, and now a local history museum, at 339 Main Street in Keene, New Hampshire. Built in 1762 by Isaac Wyman, it also served as the muster ground for militia at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. In 1968 the property was acquired by a local non-profit, which leases it to the Cheshire County Historical Society for use as a museum. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birchwood Inn</span> United States historic place

The Birchwood Inn is a historic tavern and inn on New Hampshire Route 45 in the center of Temple, New Hampshire. With a construction history dating to the early 19th century, it is an architecturally important example of how traveler accommodations changed in rural New Hampshire in the 19th century. The inn has been identified as "The Birchwood" since 1892, and was the town's only public accommodation for most of the 19th century. The building, still in use as a restaurant and inn, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. In 1981 the inn and surrounding area were used in the filming of the movie Summer, based on an Edith Wharton novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eustis Estate</span> United States historic place

The Eustis Estate is a historic family estate on Canton Avenue in Milton, Massachusetts. Its centerpiece is the mansion house of William Ellery Channing Eustis, an eclectic Late Victorian stone building designed by preeminent architect William Ralph Emerson and constructed in 1878. The estate also includes several other houses associated with the Eustis family, and a gatehouse and stable historically associated with the main estate. The estate was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district in 2016. Most of the original estate is owned by Historic New England, and was opened to the public as a museum property in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simons' Inn</span> United States historic place

Simons' Inn, also known more recently as Rowell's Inn, is a historic traveler's accommodation on Vermont Route 11 in Andover, Vermont. Built in 1826, it is a remarkably well-preserved example of a 19th-century stagecoach inn. It has for many years been a local community meeting point, serving as a general store and post office until 1950. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It is now a private residence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Riverton Inn</span> United States historic place

The Old Riverton Inn is a historic hotel and tavern at 436 East River Road in the Riverton village of Barkhamsted, Connecticut. Built in 1811, it has been in continuous operation as a traveler's accommodation since then. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perryville Tavern</span> United States historic place

The Perryville Tavern, also known as the Perryville Inn, is a historic building at 167 Perryville Road in Perryville, Union Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 15, 1977 for its significance in architecture and commerce. The tavern is located west of Clinton, south of the intersection of Interstate 78 and Perryville Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">19 Court Street</span>

19 Court Street is an historic building in Dedham, Massachusetts that was originally built in 1801 as a two-story, Federal-style single-family home. It was soon thereafter converted into a tavern, and hosted John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and the Marquis de Lafayette. In the 2010s it was converted into apartments. It has more than 15,000 square feet of living space.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. "MACRIS inventory record for Merrell Tavern". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  3. "NRHP nomination for Merrell Tavern". National Archive. Retrieved January 17, 2018.