History

Pettibone’s Tavern

... it was burned to the ground by Indians in 1800. Even today, one can descend the steps into the old basement and view the charred remains of the hand hewn oak timbers that supported the original tavern. Quickly rebuilt, the tavern re-opened in 1803, but times had changed. Instead of the thriving slave trade in nearby Newport and New York City, the abolitionist movement was gaining momentum. The bricked up tunnel that connects the basement of the Pettibone Tavern to the basement of the old red colonial home across the street at 327 Hopmeadow Street evidences this relationship. Harriett Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin in