Lemon House Bar-room

Lemon House Bar-room

NPS

Quick Facts

Amenities

1 listed

Wheelchair Accessible

Welcome to the barroom of the Lemon House. In the 1800s only men could enter the bar. Today everyone is welcome. The bartender was the cashier and all food and drinks were paid for here. The yellow paint on the walls is a copy of the original color, intended to do its best to brighten a dark and smoky room. The furnishings are reproductions of the types that would have been found here. The spit boxes and spittoon on the floor were meant to catch the tainted saliva that was the product of the most common nasty habit of the day. Visitors to America at that time commented on how seemingly everybody they encountered was constantly chewing and spitting. The raccoon gazing down from the shelf in the corner is the symbol of Mr. Lemon’s beloved Whig Party, the counterpart to the Democratic Party in the two-party system of pre-Civil War America. The main hall from which you entered the bar was a place to relax and catch up with the news by way of the newspapers left behind on the benches by other travelers. Local businesses posted notices on the walls to entice potential customers passing through the area. The painted canvas oilcloth on the floor protected the wood from the many wet, muddy shoes that passed through the door. The hall will take you to the next room on your tour, where ladies WERE welcome in the 1800s, the fancy parlor.