Philadelphia Colonial Taverns
Walking Tour With Rich Wagner
Sponsored by WHYY Saturday September 20, 2025
Stop 00 National Mechanics 22 S. 3rd St.
Harp & Crown 1750, Harp & Eagle 1780, Robinson Crusoe
Situated on 2 lots of land, one running east along the ss. of Elbow Ln. for 44 ft. with a depth of 22 ft.; adjacent to a second 19 ft. wide on Elbow Ln. with a depth to the south of 44 ft. The back lot was used for stables and outhouses.
1724-6 Owen Humphrey (tenant of White Horse) acquired the front lot and opened the Harp & Crown.
Three Tuns Tavern (3rd & Bank/Elbow) Fountain & White Horse Jan. 1, 1775 and renamed it the Fountain and White Horse. His clientele was mostly farmers attending the High St. market. In June 1776 one Fowler advertised he had on exhibition “a satyr” two feet high and like a human being, which was to be seen by anyone willing to pay a shilling. Itinerent shows such as these sought the market taverns, as the country folks were the best source of patrons for such exhibitions. At this point, a number of post riders set out weekly from the tavern, one for Strasbug via Goshen, West Chester tpk, and others for Newark, Del., Baltimore and Virginia, proceeding southward over Darby road and the King’s highway.
David Jones in 1787 advertised that he had on tap home brewed Welsh ale.
One Tun Tavern 1600s Cross Keys ne c. Chestnut and 3rd Sts. April 7, 1773
PA Gazette: “The Flying Machine kept by Charles Bessonet at Bristol sets out Mondays and Thursdays from the house of William Dibley and the Sign of the Cross Keys, the corner Chestnut and Third Sts. Phila., and proceeds to Prince Town the same day, where it meets the New York stage and returns on Tuesdays and Fridays.”
Sign of the Compass, 1729
Sign of the Mariner’s Compass and Four Horse Shoes 1738 ws Strawberry north of Three Tuns.
Stop 01 Elbow Lane
The Lion, The Red Lion “...Here in 1736 Thomas Apty, a plasterer, ‘laid a wager of Half a Crown that he would drink within the space of one hour and a half, a Gallon of Cyder Royal; which he had no sooner accomplished, and said I have finished, but he fell down, ...and then expir’d.’”
Boar’s Head 1785 ns Elbow Ln. or White Horse Alley
The Ball, The Blue Ball, Unicorn sw c. Bank St. & Elbow Ln. Advertiser Oct. 16, 1794, Widow Sarah Dyer: a commodious two story brick house which has long been occupied as a tavern and house of entertainment for market people and other.
White Horse High bet. 2nd & 3rd Sts.
Strawberry Alley
Sign of the White Horse ws Strawberry Alley bet. Market & Chestnut
Royal Standard Inn c.1700 ss Market, east. c. Strawberry Alley
Sign of the Faithful Irishman Strawberry Alley bet. Market & Chestnut
Bull’s Head 1785 Strawberry Alley b. Market & Chestnut
Sign of Philadelphia’s Bull’s Head was sold in the mid-1900s to an Englishman as the work of Benjamin West. The house stood in Strawberry Alley where West lived. Before the inn had a signboard, a bull ran into the yard and looked through the tavern window, according to tradition. Another painter, Bernard Wilton, allegedly witnessed the incident and suggested that this was a good omen. Thus the inn was named and West (or Wilton) painted an appropriate emblem.
Towne’s Evening Post August 15, 1775: Whereas it has been made to appear by the evidence of several citizens that I, John Bergum, have made use of sundry expressions derogatory to the liberties of this country, I do hereby confess myself myself very much to blame for my behaviour, and do promise that I will for the future conduct myself as a true friend of America, and assist those of the inhabitants thereof who are now struggling against the encroachments of the arbitrary power by every means I am capable of. And I do freely and without constraint agree that the above declaration be published in the newspapers of this city. Witness my hand. John Bergum, Innkeeper Sign of the Bull’s Head in Strawberry alley.
Sign of the Horse & Groom, 1785 PA Gazette April 20, 1747. Thomas Wooley moved from the White Horse in Elbow lane to the Horse and Groom in Strawberry alley.
Queen’s Head, Queen Charlotte 10-12 Strawberry St. Packet June 9, 1789. For rent, that three story brick house in Strawberry alley noted by the name of Widow Sutter’s Tavern for a number of yearrs past. Likewise all of the buildings with the stable and store, the whole including from Strawberry alley to Elbow lane, with a well of good water on the premises.
Sign of the Seven Stars, bet. the angle of Elbow Lane and the west side of Strawberry Alley.
Sign of the Death of the Fox 1756. Strawberry alley bet. 2nd & 3rd Sts. The first regularly scheduled stage departures from Philadelphia were established in 1756 by Joseph Borden and John Butler. Butler kept the Death of the Fox tavern in Strawberry Alley. He took passengers, by “wagon,” from the tavern to Trenton. There they crossed the Delaware and journeyed on through Princeton and New Brunswick to Perth Amboy. The final part of the trip to New York was by Ship. Borden’s arrangements for the journey to New York differed in that he took up the Delaware by boat as far as Bristol. 53 See PA Gazette November 6, 1756, May 26, 1756. From there they followed the same route as that used by Butler.
Sign of the Ship 1765 Strawberry Alley
Market Between 3rd & 2nd Sts.
The Bear se c. Market & 3rd Sts.
Sign of the Crown ss. Market east of 3rd St. Mercury July 29, 1731 David Evans at the Crown advertised fine wines and good English ale. He courted the custom of civic associations, hosted some business activities and acted as agent for others.
The Indian King, The British Tavern se c. Market & Biddle’s Alley (west of Bank)
February 17, 1742. PA Gazette. To be Lett; A Publick House in Market street in the City of Philadelphia, the Sign of the Indian King, where Owen Owen lived; very well accustomed, commodiously scituated and contrived for an inn of Entertainment for Man and Horse, there being 18 rooms in it, most of them large, 14 whereof have fireplaces. With a large brick kitchen and a new brick Stable two storeys high, sufficient for above a hundred Horses, and Loft over it will hold 40 to 50 Tons of Hay. It is to be entered on the First Day of August next.
Daniel Fisher, visiting Philadelphia in 1755, stayed at the Indian King, one of the best known taverns of its day. After passing some time at the public house, its Quaker proprietor took him aside: “Thou appearest to us a Stranger; and what is very agreeable to us a sober one; for which reason we are apprehensive it may not be so pleasing to thee to Continue in a Publick House, so hurried as ours sometimes is, tho’ we do believe ours is not the worst of the sort. If it is so, pray be free and let us know, for my wife in that case, will very easily enquire out a private lodging for thee…” Although Fisher felt the Indian King was the “most agreeable” tavern he’d ever stayed in, he allowed the accommodations were “a large expence,” and permitted Mrs. Biddle to secure lodgings for him with a family. He continued to take his meals at the tavern.
The Reverend Gabriel Nesman, pastor of the Swedish Church at Wicaco undertook to preach a sermon in the Swedish language at the Indian King on the second and third Sundays of every month.
An Indian King tavern reigned at Philadelphia before 1729. When the British occupied the city in 1777-8 this inn became the British Tavern under new management and catered to the British Navy during the Revolutionary War.
Stop 02 Tun Tavern Construction 19 S. 2nd St.
Stop 03 London Coffee House Marker Front & Market Sts.
The London Coffee House 1754 sw c. Front & Market Sts. William Bradford joined his uncle William, founder of Philadelphia’s first newspaper in 1719 and himself established the Pennsylvania Journal, published without change until 1800. He built the London Coffee House with 234 subscribers, each paying 30s per year.
1765. “A Stamped Newspaper arrived at Philadelphia from Barbados that was exposed to public view at the Coffee House, suspended by an Iron Chain, to which was affixed a Pair of Handcuffs.” Because of his personality and his constant presence at the coffeehouse, Bradford became a leading citizen of Philadelphia, encouraging opposition to the Stamp Act. Captain Wise of the brig Minerva, arriving from Pool, England, with the news of the repeal of the Stamp Act (May 1766), was presented with a gold-laced cocked hat and drank “a foaming bowl of punch to the sentiment ‘Prosperity to America!” Huge bowls of punch were left outside the London Coffeehouse for the city’s “commoners,” while the city’s “society” enjoyed a splendid banquet in the state house.
London Coffee House “served as a general clearinghouse for business, news and gossip, and sold tickets for concerts, plays, lectures and public events of all kinds. It was the nation’s first insurance office in 1762. Adjacent to the market, people brought all sales of horses, carriages, groceries and other goods there. It was sort of a bourse or clearing house for trade.
There, as the Revolution became a reality, “politicians, wits, military officers and merchants met to discuss over their cups of coffee the latest news of war or politics or Court. It was the “storm center” in the city where excitement ran high. On July 8, 1776, following John Nixon’s reading of the Declaration of Independence the King’s Coat of Arms, were brought from the Supreme Court chamber of the State House to be burned in the street in one of the many festive bonfires which Philadelphia witnessed that night.
William Bradford closed the London Coffee House to fight in the battle of Trenton, and continued his military activities for the next 1.5 yr. attaining the eventual rank of Colonel. It reopened in 1778 for a short time but was overshadowed by the newer City Tavern.
Pewter Platter Inn Front ab. Market at Pewter Platter Alley.
1700. A clockwork mechanism featuring 8 figures ringing changes on 8 bells and a lady turning head over heels "like a mountebanc"
Pewter Platter was the scene of many a revel by the young bloods of the town. There were riotous drinking parties including William Penn, Jr., and his companions who got into a fight with the local watch which led to their being presented by the Grand Jury. In 1760 Franklin's Junto met here. Also gentlemen adventurers who made plans for fitting our privateers to prey upon the King’s enemies and at the same time lay foundations for fortunes through what amounted to legalized piracy.
Heading South on Front St.
Ship-a-Ground 1730s-40s ne c. Front & Chestnut Sts.
Richard Pitts, keeper of the small Ship-A-Ground, sold leather chairs, woolcards and “good pickled cod fish” by the barrel.
Kouli Khan aka Turk’s Head nw c. Front & Chestnut Sts.
Some coffee houses were named the Turk or The Turk’s Head and often featured a portrait of a Moslem man wearing a turban, a traditional symbol of tobacco merchants. The introduction of coffee produced a variety of signs reflecting various Sultans and Turks with heads wrapped in turbans.
The Pennsylvania Gazette. Philadelphia, September 29, 1789. …This has been an old accustomed beer-house, known by the name of the Grand Turk; with a convenient kitchen, and a large commodious vault running into Chestnut street. Taken in execution as late the property of Margaret Trotter, and to be sold by JAMES ASH, Sheriff.
Crooked Billet Tavern 1689 Bank lot ab. Chestnut St.
George Guest died in 1685 and for some years thereafter his widow Alice Guest lived in a cave where she kept a tavern. In 1686 she put up a bond of £20 as security against good behavior on her premises. In 1687 she received a confirmed patent on her land and the cave was deemed to be more than £30 and was exempted from eviction. Within five years she built a conventional structure which housed a tavern she named the Crooked Billet.
The name came to America from England where a signboard with the following verse accompanied an awkward, untrimmed branch:
When this comical stick grew in a wood
Our ale was fresh and very good.
Step in and taste, oh do make haste!
For if you don’t, ‘twill surely waste!
And On the reverse side:
As you have viewed the other side,
Come read this too, before you ride.
And now to end, we’ll let it pass,
Step in, kind friend, and take a glass!
A set of stone steps leading from Front St. down to Water with a connecting passage extending from Water to the riverside, known respectively as Crooked Billet Stairs and Crooked Billet Alley.
PA Gazette November 8, 1744. At the Crooked Billet, a clockwork mechanism which featured eight figures ringing changes on eight bells and a lady turning head over heels “like a mountebank” was displayed. The owner boasted, “the likes of this was never heard of in England.”
Carpenter’s Coffee House 1701-1741 ws Front bel. Chestnut St.
The first British coffee house was established in London in 1652. It was during this time that coffee, tea and chocolate were introduced to England. By 1712 London was home to 2,000 coffee houses. Samuel Carpenter built the city’s first coffee house in 1700 on the “bank” overlooking his wharf just above Walnut St. He sold it in 1703 to John Finney who rented it to Henry Flowers who served no alcohol there. Flowers was Pennsylvania’s Postmaster so it probably served as a post office.
William Frampton’s Brew House and Ordinary. sw c. Walnut and Front Sts.,
William Penn: “Our DRINK has been Beer and Punch, made of rum and water: our Beer was mostly made of Molasses, which well boyld, with Sassafras or Pine infused into it, makes very tolerable drink; but now they make Mault, and Mault Drink begins to be common, especially at the Ordinaries [taverns] and the houses of the more substantial People. In our great Town there is an able Man [William Frampton] that has set up a large Brew House, in order to furnish the People with good Drink, both there and up and down the River… [and] built a good Brick house, by his Brew House and Bake House, and let [leased] the other for an Ordinary [Tavern]." The brewery had a 15-bbl. “Copper” [kettle].
Sign of the Three Mariners ne c. Walnut & Front Sts.
James’ Coffee House nw c. Front & Walnut Sts.
It was the third coffee house in the city and run by widow Sarah James then her sons Thomas and James. Pennsylvania Gazette March 14, 1748: James James, Jr. announces a vendue of the household effects of his father: brewing utensils and two negro slaves, likewise a parcel of ginger to be sold by the pound or otherwise..
The Globe Inn ws Front bet. Chestnut & Walnut Sts.
Built by Samuel Carpenter. In 1715, Hannah Hubbard was the tenant. Hubbard purchased beer from Joseph Taylor’s brewery. In a nine month period from August 1715 to April 1716 Hubbard purchased 63 barrels of ale which cost 18s per barrel (total £56). During this period Hubbard sold just under two barrels per week. It is estimated she could make no more than 6s on a barrel that cost 18s. which would have brought receipts totally £74 on her £56 investment.
Stop 04 Tun Tavern Marker
Tun Tavern, Peggy Mullen’s Beef Stake House 1730 es Water bel. Chestnut St.
The tun (252 gal.) was the symbol of the brewers’ guilds and was derived from the vintners’ arms. This term designated the liquor capacity of a tavern: one tun, two tun, or three tuns.
Joshua Carpenter built the Tun Tavern on the cartway that led to Carpenter's wharf. This cartway, in turn, became known as Tun Alley and was the site of Joshua Carpenter's brewery.
Pennsylvania Gazette December 2, 1736.. TO BE SOLD …on the 20th Day of December next, the Improvements, Implements and Utensils of the Brew House in Water Street, now under the Direction of William Cundell, adjoyning to the Tun Tavern, all in excellent good Order and compleat for carrying on the Business of Brewing: Also a Negroe Man, Horses, Drays, etc. the Assignment of the Time of sundry Servants employed therein, of which an Inventory with the Terms of Sale may be seen in the Hands of said William Cundell at the Brew House...
William Black, invited to the Tunn Tavern by the governor of Pennsylvania described: "Number of Gentlemen that meet at this house every Saturday to Eat Beef-Stakes, and from that is Call'd the Beef-Stake Clubb." Dinner included 20 separate dishes
Pennsylvania Gazette June 22, 1749 advertised: Broke lose from out of Carpenter’s Dock on the 20th instant, a large green Turtle. He had two holes bored in the after part of his shell to fasten the line to and weighs 53 pounds. Anyone bringing this back alive to Thomas Mullen at the Sign of the Tun in Water St. will receive 10s.
“The first official step taken by the Continental Congress for the development of a navy was made on October 13, 1775, when it authorized the acquisition of two vessels of war.” “The first official step taken by the Continental Congress to provide marines was taken on November 10...” Graham Cards
“The first recruiting of the Continental Marines under the authority stated above appears to have been at the Tun Tavern in Philadelphia. The proprietor of the Tavern, Robert Mullen, Jr., was made captain of a company of marines and acted as one of the principal recruiting officers for the Marines throughout the Revolution.”
Anthony Morris Brewery and Malt House 1687 Water St. bel. Walnut St.
Anthony Morris established his brewery and malt house on the waterfront above Walnut St. He became the second mayor of Philadelphia and later the Supreme Judge of the Commonwealth. His descendants were prominent in brewing, business and politics. Gabriel Thomas, in his account of Philadelphia in 1696 wrote: “The brewers sell such beer as is equal in strength to that in London, half ale and half stout for fifteen shillings per barrel; and their beer hath a better name, that is, it is more esteemed than English beer in Barbados, and is sold for a higher price there.'' Morris died in 1721. In his will: “To my son Anthony Morris Jr., my bank and water lot, with brewhouse, malthouse, brewing utensils, negroes, horses and cattle except one cow, which I intend for my wife."
Stop 05 City Tavern
City Tavern 1773 sw c. 2nd & Walnut. NPS 1975
In 1773 fifty-six prominent gentlemen each invested £25 to finance the construction of the City Tavern. …The upstairs had “a long room divided into boxes, fitted with tables, and elegantly lighted" which was suitable for gaming or club meetings. Newspapers from the colonies and from Britain were available. There was a platform set up in the long room to accommodate an orchestra.
Prior to the occupation the City Tavern, British Officers were imprisoned there. During the occupation, British Officers used it as their mess and held balls in the long room upstairs.
The Merchant’s Coffee House and Exchange was established in 1789 and occupied the front two rooms of the tavern. Moreau de St. Mery wrote in his diary that the merchants: “gather at 2 PM every day to find out about market prices, to learn about ship movements, the records of which were kept in a register, and to hear the news… Each day an officer goes from there to the lower part of the river at least as far as Newcastle, depending on the weather and the season, to find what vessels are expected or which are preparing to sail from Newcastle.
The Plume of Feathers 1700-1730 es 2nd St. above Walnut St.
Taylor’s brewery ledger indicates that the Widow Jones who kept the Plume of Feathers. During 10 month period August 1720 and June 1721 Jones sold 28 barrels of beer, much of which was “middling” brew.
The Proprietor’s or Proprietor’s Arms Tavern 1700-1750 ws 2nd ab. Walnut St.
Three Crowns 1700-1750 nw c. of 2nd & Walnut Sts. “...two-story house now adjoining the south end of the City Tavern. Besides its present front on Second St. it had a front towards Walnut, with a fine green court yard all along that street all the way to Dock Creek.” Richard Penn & other Governors feasted here.”
Stop 06 Fraunces Marker
Fraunces Tavern 2nd St. bel. Dock Creek.
Fraunces operated the Queen’s Head tavern in Manhattan (1755), the Free Masons Arms as well as Vauxhall Gardens. In late 1765 he rented those establishments and moved his family to Philadelphia. There he opened the Queen’s Head or Queen Charlotte’s Tavern 1766-8. In 1770 he returned to New York as proprietor of the Queen’s Head. He served General Washington’s officers during the war and uncovered a plot by one of his guards to assassinate him. A dinner “Sent out” to Washington from the tavern in 1783 included 16 dishes. During British occupation Fraunces moved his family to New Jersey but was pressed into service as a chef for a British General. In 1789 Fraunces returned to New York and became President Washington’s executive chef. When the nation’s capital was moved to Philadelphia, President Washington enlisted to manage his household (1791-94). After serving the President Fraunces opened a tavern, also called the Queen’s Head on 2nd St. below Spruce. next door to the residence of the British Minister. The following year he became proprietor of the rebuilt Tun Tavern on Water St. He died in 1795.
Stop 07 Man Full of Trouble Tavern
Man Full of Trouble Tavern 1759
Unlike the City Tavern, the Man Full of Trouble was a modest establishment that catered primarily to sailors, “shallopmen,” dock workers and others who lived in the neighborhood. The kitchen was in the basement, less than three feet above high tide of the Delaware two blocks to the east. A door at the southeast corner of the cellar connected to an underground passageway that led to Dock Creek that contained a drain and was used for cold storage. The east wall had a door that led to a ladder providing a way to bring produce in and to remove ashes from the fireplace.
The name appears to have been taken by an English tavern known as the “Man Loaded With Mischief” which is immortalized in a Hogarth painting showing a man with a chain around his neck with a “wedlock” and a Gin drinking woman on his back, a magpie on one shoulder pecking his head and monkey on his arm, woman and monkey both pointing to the lock. Cats in background by the pot-house say “She’s as drunk as a sow.” The engraving of this sign is signed “Drawn by Experience, Engraved by Sorrow,” and the rhyme:
“A monkey, a magpie, and a wife
Is the true emblem of strife.”
Stop 08 Head House Square
Stop 09 The Twisted Tail 509 S. 2nd St.