BGuthrie Photos: PA -- Fort Necessity Natl Battlefield -- Mt Washington Tavern

PA -- Fort Necessity Natl Battlefield -- Mt Washington Tavern:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. FTNECT_130330_040.JPG: Fort Necessity was located about 400 yards to the south in the Great Meadows. Built and commanded, 1754 by Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, aged 22. Here, after 9 hours engagement with M. Coulon de Villiers in command of 900 French regulars and their Indian allies, Washington and his 400 raw Virginia and South Carolina troops capitulated and early next morning July 4, 1954 marched out with the honors of war.
2. FTNECT_130330_045.JPG: The National Road This "National Road" connected east and west in the 1800's. George Washington proposed a route to join the western frontier to the eastern seaboard in the late 1700's. His idea was later promoted by Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison -- and Congress authorized the road in 1806. Work started in 1811. While a privately funded road connected Baltimore to Cumberland, Maryland, this first federally funded highway tied Cumberland to Wheeling, Virginia in 1818. By 1839, the road stretched more than 600 miles to Vandalia, Illinois. Although railroads eventually displaced it, the National Road's success set the stage for today's national highway system. In 1835, cast-iron mileposts were placed every mile along the road between Cumberland and Wheeling. A few original markers still exist along U.S. Route 40, which follows the same route as the old National Road.
3. FTNECT_130330_051.JPG: Mount Washington Tavern: This tavern once bustled with activity. Judge Nathaniel Ewing of Uniontown built it about 1830, then sold it in 1840 to James Sampey, who ran the tavern with his family. Mount Washington Tavern was a stage stop for the Good Intent Stage Line, one of many stage lines using the National Road. This was one of the finer taverns along the road, catering to stagecoach passengers. Once inside, travelers cleaned up from their long day's trip, then ate a hot meal in the dining room. Later, the women gathered in the parlor while the men congregated in the barroom. There were no private bedrooms. Men and women slept in separate rooms, usually fully clothed, and sometimes shared bedspace. Often awakened before 5am, they continued on their journey. Outside the Mount Washington Tavern stood a stable, shed, and other outbuildings. The tavern's stables provided fresh teams of horses for the Good Intent Stage Line. These stagecoaches -- pulled by teams of four -- changed horses every 10 to 15 miles during their 60- to 70-mile trip each day. The tavern's west wall originally had no windows, two doors, and a different chimney configuration. A 1930s remodeling gave the tavern its present appearance. [A brochure mentions that the prosperity along the National Road started to decline after the railroads started coming through. In 1855, the tavern was sold but over the next 75 years only occasionally had paying guests.]
4. FTNECT_130330_104.JPG: In recognition of those sons and daughters of Wharton Township who participated in the wars fought for the establishment and preservation of liberty at home and overseas
5. FTNECT_130817_015.JPG: Welcome to the Mount Washington Tavern. This building is one of the many taverns that were located along the historic National Road. The Tavern was constructed by 1839 and was operated by the Sampey family. The tavern keepers serviced the Good Intent Line and its stagecoach customers. The Mount Washington Tavern owes its name to George Washington who was once owner of the Great Meadows. Although built long after his death, it serves as a reminder of his legacy of westward expansion. "The taverns where at stage horses were kept and exchanged, and where stage passengers took meals, were called 'stage houses,' located at intervals of about twelve miles..." -- Thomas B. Searight, The Old Pike: A History of the National Road, 1894
6. FTNECT_130817_018.JPG: "walls covered with advertisements of elections... fares of stages and steamboats... auctions... sales of land... sales of stock... sales of merchandise... sales of anything that can be sold... quack medicines without end, the most prominent being specifics for dyspepsia." -- John Fowler, Journal of a Tour in the State of New York in the Year 1830. 1831 The Bar Room was frequently mostly by men, as was the custom of the day, with activities such as gambling, smoking, and conversation. Over drinks of rye whiskey, brandy, and hard cider topics may have included politics, current events, and stories of travel.
7. FTNECT_130817_034.JPG: "In these faraway taverns, private tables and parlours are neither thought of nor wanted. There are generally, besides the dining room, one or two apartments furnished and used as parlours." -- Philip Nicklin, Journey Through Pennsylvania, 1835 The Parlor was often the finest room in the tavern. Here women, children and men could enjoy reading, conversation and entertainment surrounded by elegant furnishing which reflected upon the status of the public house and its owners. Although little is known of the Sampey family, the 1850 United States census documents thirteen people residing at "Mount Washington." In addition to Henry Sampey, the innkeeper, there were four stage drivers, two horse keepers, three women and three children who lived at the tavern.
8. FTNECT_130817_045.JPG: "... huge piles of buckwheat cakes... among along the board flanked each by a cold apple-pie. The beef-steak was decidedly the favorite dish." -- Charles Fenno Hoffman, 1835 "They gave us plentiful fare, particularly at breakfast, where veal-cutlets, sweetmeats, cheese, eggs, and ham were most liberally set before us." -- Francis Hall, 1819 Dining Room: Meals were served family style with little fanfare and without a fixed menu. Travelers would often eat quickly as the coaches followed strict schedules.
9. FTNECT_130817_061.JPG: "Springhill furnace castings, stoves, grates, Pyramid, Franklin and Canon stoves, cooking stoves suitable for wood or coal." -- Merchant advertisement, Pennsylvania Democrat, Uniontown, PA, Newspaper, November 12, 1839 Kitchen: Nineteenth century taverns in the North often had the kitchens placed in the structure for convenience and warmth. It is possible that the fireplace was upgraded to an iron cooking stove as more than a dozen iron furnaces were located nearby.
10. FTNECT_130817_094.JPG: "Many of them (emigrants) sleep in their own bed-clothes, on the floors... in the taverns. For this kind of lodging they usually pay 25 cents a family." -- James Flint, Letters from America, 1816-1820. 1922. Attic: Little is known about the third floor which consists of one large finished room with a window and no fireplace. It may have been used for storage or served as an additional sleeping area with guests accommodated in dormitory-style beds or crude straw filled mattresses on the floor.
11. FTNECT_130817_115.JPG: "Arrived at our inn... the blended fumes of tobacco and whiskey, received us... we preferred going to our cold bed-rooms rather than sup in such as atmosphere. We found linen on the beds which they assured us had only been used a few nights..." -- Frances Trollope, Domestic Manner of the Americans, 1832 Second Floor Bedrooms: No privacy was expected as overnight accommodations in the tavern was shared. Travelers slept partially clothed for warmth or for personal security. Each room included a wash basin and chamber pot with the main privy or "necessary" located outside, behind the building.
12. FTNECT_130817_159.JPG: Graffiti: During removal of non-historic wallpaper, graffiti from the tavern period was uncovered. Several signatures and numeric equations were revealed. One signature bears the date of July 28, 1839. Speculation is these people were building tradesmen leaving their mark for posterity on the finished structure.
13. FTNECT_130817_184.JPG: Searight-Shuman Memorial. In Memory of pioneer families of Western Pennsylvania. Hon. William Searight, Rachel Brownfield Searight and descendants, Captain Thomas Bowman Shuman, Jean Ramsey Searight Shuman and descendants, beloved daughter Jean Elizabeth Searight Shuman-Shipley. Erected by Mrs. Rachel Searight Shuman Shipley.
14. FTNECT_130817_203.JPG: Fort Necessity was located about 400 yards to the south in the Great Meadows. Built and commanded, 1754 by Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, aged 22. Here, after 9 hours engagement with M. Coulon de Villiers in command of 900 French regulars and their Indian allies, Washington and his 400 raw Virginia and South Carolina troops capitulated and early next morning July 4, 1954 marched out with the honors of war.
15. FTNECT_130817_214.JPG: The National Road This "National Road" connected east and west in the 1800s. George Washington proposed a route to join the western frontier to the eastern seaboard in the late 1700s. His idea was later promoted by Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison -- and Congress authorized the road in 1806. Work started in 1811. While a privately funded road connected Baltimore with Cumberland, Maryland, this first federally funded highway tied Cumberland to Wheeling, Virginia, in 1818. By 1839 the road stretched more than 600 miles to Vandalia, Illinois. Although railroads eventually displaced it, the National Road's success set the stage for today's national highway system.
16. FTNECT_130817_217.JPG: Mount Washington Tavern This tavern once bustled with activity. Judge Nathaniel Ewing of Uniontown built it about 1830, then sold in in 1840 to James Sampey, who ran the tavern with his family. Mount Washington Tavern was a stage stop for the Good Intent Stage Line, one of many stage lines using the National Road. This was one of the finer taverns along the road, catering to stagecoach passengers. Once inside, travelers cleaned up from their long day's trip, then ate a hot meal in the dining room. Later, the women gathered in the parlor while the men congregated in the barroom. There were no private bedrooms. Men and women slept in separate rooms, usually fully clothed, and sometimes shared bedspace. Often awakened before 5 a.m., they continued on their journey. Outside the Mount Washington Tavern stood a stable, shed, and other outbuildings. The tavern's stables provided fresh teams of horses for the Good Intent Stage Line. These stagecoaches -- pulled by teams of four -- changed horses every 10 to 15 miles during their 50- to 70-mile trip each day.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: Fort Necessity National Battlefield
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...

Mount Washington Tavern

On a hillside adjacent to the battlefield and within the boundaries of the park is Mount Washington Tavern, a classic example of the many inns once lining the National Road, the United States' first federally funded highway.

The land on which the tavern was built was originally owned by George Washington. In 1770 he purchased the site on which he had commanded his first battle. Around the 1830s, Judge Nathanial Ewing of Uniontown constructed the tavern. James Sampey acquired the tavern in 1840. It was operated by his family until the railroad construction boom caused the National Road to decline in popularity, rendering the inn unprofitable. In 1855, it was sold to the Fazenbaker family. They used it as a private home for the next 75 years, until the Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania purchased the property in 1932. In 1961 the National Park Service purchased the property from the state, making the building a part of Fort Necessity. The Mount Washington Tavern demonstrates the standard features of an early American tavern, including a simple barroom that served as a gathering place, a more refined parlor that was used for relaxation, and bedrooms in which numerous people would crowd to catch up on sleep.
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