Traveling Through History at Gadsby’s Tavern

Situated in the heart of Old Town Alexandria, Gadsby’s Tavern Museum is a fascinating site brimming with history from the 18th and 19th centuries. Everyone who was anyone in the ever-evolving political and commercial landscape of the time would have spent hour upon hour there – eating, drinking and engaging in heavy debates over the issues of the day.

It was not, however, the first tavern on the property. It became the fourth, when Maryland native John Wise purchased the plot in 1782 from Edward Owens, and built the current Georgian-style structure.

In 1796, Englishman John Gadsby leased the City Tavern from Wise. He renewed the lease in 1802 to include the smaller 1780s tavern and operated both until 1808 when he moved to Maryland. But the Gadsby name remained.

The property actually consists of two connected taverns – the first built in 1785 and the second in 1792 – meant to accommodate the ever-growing hospitality industry and Alexandria’s bourgeoning trade economy due to the end of the Revolutionary War and the city’s port location on the Potomac River.

First, visitors enter the public dining room, replete with period furniture and tables set with serving pieces and food that was indicative of the time and its location in the South, close to the Chesapeake Bay. The oysters on the half shell look quite succulent and you can almost smell the Virginia ham. In your mind, you can hear the glasses clanking as one toast after another is made. But not everyone was invited to participate in these wonderful offerings.

Wealthy merchants, plantation owners, and craftsmen were among those who regularly visited and were welcome. Upper-class white women generally entertained at home but lower-class white women would have been there only to perform domestic work. Enslaved or free blacks would have been there to perform services, such as cooking and cleaning up, or other chores mainly in the outer buildings in the rear courtyard.

So many of our founding fathers spent time or stayed at Gadsby’s Tavern. Some had to travel hundreds of miles from their homes in order to participate in the critical political gatherings and debates around the Articles of Confederation, which would change us from a collection of self-ruling states into a cohesive nation.

Other local standard-bearers of the time such as Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Lafayette and Hamilton’s nemesis, Aaron Burr, all frequented the tavern, where the drinking was plentiful and the discussions frequently heated. These and other political elite were the only ones with a voice in the political process.

One group that met at Gadsby’s was the Potomac Company, backed by George Washington and authorized in 1785 by Maryland and Virginia, to make improvements to the upper areas of the river. High on the priority list was digging a canal to bypass the Great Falls area and widen the Potomac in certain spots to make it more navigable in reaching the more western lying farmlands.

In November of 1785, the Board of Directors of the Potomac Company advertised that “100 Negroes are wanted on hire…,” which was a popular means of obtaining helpers and for owners to rent out their slaves. Slavery was a hot topic at the time – even Hamilton, who fancied himself an abolitionist, was a slave owner who feared bringing up his real feelings on slavery. Yet, in Gadsby’s Tavern and Alexandria as a whole, slaves and white laborers frequently worked side by side.

There are also the assembly room and large ballroom, which were used for entertainment of the period.

One can easily imagine the festive cotillions and exclusive social events that were held in this exquisite ballroom, boasting detailed woodwork and colonial blue color. Washington attended several birthnight balls celebrating his birthday in that room and Thomas Jefferson hosted a banquet honoring his inauguration in 1801.

With the nation’s capital now on the Potomac, Alexandria and Gadsby’s Tavern began playing integral roles in so many of the social and political events of the time.

This is an abridged article.