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History

Pettibone’s Tavern

... those passengers on the Boston to Albany turnpike as they crested the top of Talcott Mountain. There in the distance, across the river, lay Pettibone’s Tavern. Smoke poured out of the multiple chimneys and all on the coach knew that hot chowder and cold ale were within sight. The Pettibone Tavern was a meeting place to exchange news of the war, and Captain Phelps of Simsbury used the tavern as a rendezvous with Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys to engineer the bloodless capture of Fort Ticonderoga in nearby New York. It is highly likely that both of our nation’s first two presidents stayed at The Pettibone Tavern during their travels

 

between Boston, New York and Philadelphia. The majority of Washington’s cannon and shot came from the rich ore deposits in western Connecticut, and George Washington is mentioned by name in a US Supreme Court case involving The Pettibone Tavern regarding the quartering of troops. John Adams noted in his memoirs that he preferred the Albany Turnpike to the Boston Post road that runs along the shoreline of Connecticut. He made countless trips from his farm in Quincy, Massachusetts to the Continental Congresses in Philadelphia and to our nations first seat of government in New York, both as Washington’s vice president and during his own administration. After the war the Pettibone Tavern remained the central public house in the growing community, but being on the fringe of civilization, ... click to continue