 
Madden's Tavern
Photograph from National Register Collection, photograph by Ann
Miller |
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This simple log structure is a rare relic of pre-Civil War black entrepreneurship
in rural Virginia. Completed about 1840, the tavern was built by, owned,
and operated by Willis Madden (1800-1879) a free black, and was likely
the only tavern in the region with a proprietor of Madden's race. Virginia
free blacks were able to earn and keep wages and to own and operate a
business, but were forbidden to vote, bear arms, testify against a white
person, or be educated. Madden built the tavern on property purchased
in 1835 on the Old
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Madden's Tavern
Photograph from National Register Collection, photograph by
Ann Miller
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Fredericksburg Road. The western half of the structure was Madden's
family quarters; the eastern portion consisted of a public room and
a loft for overnight guests. A general store and blacksmith-wheelwright
shop were also on the property. Union troops sacked the place in 1863-64.
The property is still owned by Madden's descendants.
Madden's Tavern is located east of Culpeper near Lignum on Rte. 610,
north of Rte. 3 and west of Rte. 647. It is not open to the public, but
a Virginia State Historic Marker can be read at the roadside.
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