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Mount Washington Tavern

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1827–1828. 1 Washington Pkwy., off U.S. 40, 1.2 miles northwest of Farmington

The Mount Washington Tavern was one of the largest inns on the National Road. Built by Judge Nathaniel Ewing of Uniontown, it was named for George Washington, who owned this land until 1799. It was the site of the battle of Great Meadows, Washington's first major battle and only defeat, and today is part of Fort Necessity National Battlefield. The tavern was a luxury inn, or a stagecoach inn, as opposed to a wagon stand built to accommodate drovers, and was run by the Sampey family to accommodate travelers on the Good Intent Stagecoach Line. It has a typical five-bay facade with a handsome doorway surmounted by an elliptical fanlight. Four windows in the gable ends light each of the first-story rooms and the hallways above. The seven guest rooms on the second floor open into a central hall that runs parallel to the facade, unlike most five-bay houses in the area, which have four rooms and a hall perpendicular to the facade; the tavern's scheme allowed more rooms in the available space. The Flemish bond brickwork on both the north facade and the east elevation, which is the first elevation seen by most travelers, and handsome bridged chimneys at each gable end distinguish the inn. The pretensions of Judge Ewing overreached the capabilities of his builders, as several details reveal, for instance, the fanlight's arch was laid without using pie-shaped bricks.

An even earlier inn two-and-one-half miles to the west, the Stone House restaurant (1822, 1909; 3023 National Pike, U.S. 40) has undergone several large additions to give it the appearance of a Colonial Revival house, including a single-story porch across the facade. It was originally known as the Fayette Springs Hotel.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lu Donnelly et al.
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Citation

Lu Donnelly et al., "Mount Washington Tavern", [, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-01-FA31.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of PA vol 1

Buildings of Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Lu Donnelly, H. David Brumble IV, and Franklin Toker. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, 259-259.

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