The Mount Washington Tavern

The Mount Washington Tavern

NPS / Victoria Stauffenberg

Quick Facts

Location:

Main unit of Fort Necessity National Battlefield

Significance:

Stagecoach stop on the National Road

Designation:

National Register of Historic Places

Amenities

2 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Wheelchair Accessible

The Mount Washington Tavern is open seasonally May 1st to October 31st daily from 10 AM to 4 PM. A self guided tour will take you through the furnished rooms and interpretive signs tell the story of this historic tavern.

Built in the 1830s along the National Road the tavern served as a stopping place for the Good Intent stagecoaches and their travelers.   A wide hall greeted the guests. Men could get a drink and socialize in the tavern’s barroom. Women and children relaxed in the parlor, where the gentlemen were welcome to join them. All the travelers waited for the dinner bell before entering the dining room. They eat together at one big long table with the food being placed on platters in the center of the table. The kitchen was not open to the travelers but would have been busy with cooks and other employees who worked to keep the tavern going.

The second floor had bedrooms for overnight guests. The room were set up dormitory style with men in one room and women in another.

New technology put the tavern out of business. Railroads had made it across the Allegheny Mountains, putting the stagecoaches out the business. The Mount Washington Tavern was sold as a private residence in 1856.

Follow this link for more information on the National Road.

• Mount Washington Tavern

  
  

  An audio clip from the self guided tour that describes what visiting the Mount Washington Tavern would have been like
  Audio Transcript

  Welcome to the Mount Washington Tavern. This historic tavern was constructed sometime after 1828, and functioned as a tavern until the mid 1850s. US Highway 40, which passes in front of the tavern, follows the route of the National Road. The National Road was the first federally funded highway. Construction began in 1811. There were almost 300 taverns on the route from Baltimore to Wheeling, serving clientele such as farmers, drovers, and wagoneers. This tavern served high end clientele traveling by stagecoach. Business travelers, bankers, lawyers; those who could afford the more expensive means of transportation, would have stayed at places such as this. Stage coaches generally stopped every 10-12 miles to change horses. The Mount Washington Tavern stabled horsed for the Good Intent Stage Line, which was located in Uniontown.

  Being only 12 mile from the city of Uniontown, this tavern probably had fewer overnight guests. The tavern was most well known for its food. When the coach stopped here to change horses, travelers could come into the barroom to get something to drink, or perhaps come into the parlor, where they could rest and talk with the locals. If they took on a meal, it was eaten in a common dining room, where they would be served a general meal. They would not be given a menu, or sit at a private table. They ate quickly, because they didn’t know when their stagecoach would be refitted with new horses and be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. There are seven rooms upstairs.

  They were likely used for both travelers, and tavern employees. The 1850 census lists 13 people living in the tavern, including the Innkeeper, stage drivers, and house keepers.