From Our Archive:
Town Taverns
By Marty Larson
Long distance travel in colonial New England took time and patience. Taverns or ordinaries, provided food, drink and lodging for weary travelers. A major route from Boston to points north ran through the North Parish: today's Andover and Osgood Streets. When George Washington toured New England after his election, he would have traveled this road on his way from Haverhill south. He did not stop at a North Parish tavern, alas, but at the Issac Abbot Tavern on Elm Street in the South Parish. (Incidentally, it still stands at the intersection of Whittier Street).
However, there were a number of taverns along this route and around the Old Center. In addition to catering to the traveling public, they served as meeting places for local residents. They hosted dances, parties, militia assemblies and official functions and served a lot of ale and hot buttered rum. Then, as now, these establishments were authorized by the Selectmen, but there did not seem to be any limit on the number of them as there are today.
Starting with Andover Street at the junction with Chickering Road, lets look at a few of these ordinaries still standing. James Parker built 330 Andover Street in 1742. Like most taverns of the period, it looks little different from a regular home. The family would live in the back rooms with the front rooms used for a tap and serving room. Overnight guests would sleep in the upstairs chambers, several to a room (and usually several to a bed). We were helped in establishing the date of the house by a small document in our collection that deals with a paternity determination--the direct result of a liaison occurring in an upstairs chamber of Parker's tavern.
Another tavern, which is now the right ell of the Stevens-Coolidge Place, was operated as a sideline by James Stevens, a farmer, in the 1820s and 30s. It was originally located next door, where the brick duplex now stands. The upstairs meeting room is still intact. It is easy to envision dances and assemblies held there, with ladies and gentlemen dressed in their best clothes having a great time. Jimmy Stevens' tavern was apparently popular with the young men of the Franklin Academy and recalled with fondness in later life. His store account book records large amounts of butter and sugar-- chief ingredients in hot buttered rum, which was a popular beverage of the day.
Across the street, at the corner of Chestnut and Andover, is a much earlier tavern, built before 1748 and doubled in size by Isaac Parker in the 1790s. In the later 19th century, the house became a popular summer boarding house.
In the commercial center of the town, Moses Foster was the host at 24 Salem Street. Moses was one of the wealthiest men in Massachusetts in the early 19th Century. He operated a store on Johnson Street in the Old Center and invested in building the Brick Store commercial block. He added to his income by operating a public house. There is a mochaware mug in the Society's collection, said to belong to Moses, which could well have been used for service in his tap room.
The important intersection of Main and Osgood Streets, where the Police Station sits today, was the site of the Harkaway Tavern, owned by Bimsley Stevens. Here the main road, Osgood Street, went to the right and on to Haverhill and the left fork, Main Street, led to the ferry across the Merrimack in the days before bridges crossed the river. The Harkaway was moved to make way for the new Town Hall, called Stevens Hall, and Johnson High School, completed in 1867. It was moved a short way north to the street which now bears its name and served as a boarding house for Stevens Mill workers. It was moved once again in the 20th century and now stands around the corner on Osgood Street. Tavern Acres, the National Register District surrounding Patriots Memorial Park behind the Library, built on Stevens family land (called the Tavern Lot), was most probably named for Bimsley's Harkaway Tavern.
There were probably many more such institutions now lost to time and memory. Before we get too nostalgic, like everything else, there were occasional drawbacks. Samuel Sewall wrote in 1702 on a visit to (the North Parish of) Andover: "Some warned us not to goe to the ordinary, because Mr. Peters was dangerously sick". The history of taverns in town is a fascinating one. They represent a style of life from a time when travel was time consuming and often difficult. With no phones or email, taverns were a place to visit to catch up on the latest news and to spend time with friends.
This topic would make a great show for local cable TV. CAM will loan us the equipment--do any members have the expertise and interest to help us to produce it? Give us a call.
by Marty Larson
Page Last Modified Fri 07-13-2007 22:42