Jug Tavern facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Jug Tavern
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South profile and east elevation, 2009
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | Ossining, NY |
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| Nearest city | White Plains |
| Built | c. 1760 |
| NRHP reference No. | 76001293 |
| Added to NRHP | June 7, 1976 |
The Jug Tavern, also known as the Davids–Garrison House or the Grapevine Inn, is a historic building in Ossining, New York. It's located in the old Sparta neighborhood. This wooden building has parts that date back to the mid-1700s, even before the American Revolution. This makes it possibly the oldest building in Ossining.
Over the years, the Jug Tavern has been changed and rebuilt many times. In 1976, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This is a special list of buildings, sites, and objects important in American history.
The building was once on the main Albany Post Road. It was the center of the small community of Sparta. Today, Sparta is part of Ossining, but it still has many old, historic buildings. Much of the Jug Tavern's past is a bit of a mystery. For example, it's not clear if it was ever truly a tavern. Some local stories say that famous people like George Washington visited it. The name "Jug Tavern" wasn't even used until the mid-1900s! A local group now owns and protects this historic building.
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What Does the Jug Tavern Look Like?
The Jug Tavern stands on the northwest corner of Revolutionary Road and Rockledge Avenue. It's about 600 feet west of U.S. Route 9 and 1,000 feet east of the Hudson River. To the east, you'll see modern shops and parking areas. To the west, there are other old homes in Sparta, surrounded by tall trees. A small stream called Sparta Brook flows nearby. The land gently slopes up towards the north.
Building Design and Features
The building has six sections on its long side and two on its short side. It's built into the sloping land. This makes its stone foundation visible on the east side, making it look like a two-and-a-half-story building. The lower part of the building, like the upper parts, is covered with wooden siding called clapboard.
The roof is shingled and slopes down on two sides (a "gable" roof). One brick chimney rises from the roof. An extra section was added to the northwest corner of the second floor, making the north side a bit longer.
Porch and Windows
A long porch, called a veranda, runs along the entire second story. It has a railing (a "balustrade"). This porch also acts as a cover for the ground floor entrance. Five square wooden pillars hold up the porch, reaching to the roof's edge.
Both floors have many windows. These are "double-hung" windows, meaning both the top and bottom parts can slide open. There are also two entrances on the front, one on each side of the center. The second-story entrances are closer together. Similar windows are found on the other sides of the building. There are also entrances at the south basement and the north addition.
Inside the Building
Inside, most of the features are newer, from the late 1800s. The only parts left from the original building are in its wooden frame. During later updates, some of the old "mortise and tenon" joints (a way of joining wood without nails) were replaced. They used a newer method called "balloon framing" that was popular at the time.
A Look Back: The Jug Tavern's History
The land where the Jug Tavern stands was once owned by the Philipse family in the early 1700s. A farmer named Charles Davids leased this land. The Albany Post Road was built nearby in 1723. By 1744, a bridge crossed the local brook. This area was a natural meeting point. Charles Davids built a farmhouse here between 1758 and 1760. Parts of this original farmhouse, like its foundation and wooden frame, are still there today.
Changes in Ownership
Later records are not complete, but it seems Charles Davids' sons inherited parts of the land. By the 1780s, a road led down to the river from the site. The small community of Sparta began to form. In 1784, the state took the Philipse family's land. This happened because Frederick Philipse supported the British during the American Revolutionary War. The next year, the land was sold. Peter Davids bought 200 acres, which included the tavern site and the future Sparta area. Maps from this time show a building, but not exactly where the tavern is now.
In 1788, Peter Davids took out a loan for 70 acres of his land. In 1794, he could not pay back the loan. He gave the land to James Drowley, who planned out the community of Sparta. Drowley died in 1795. A map from that year is the first to show a building at the current Jug Tavern site. Peter Davids also died that year.
The Garrison Family and Sparta's Decline
By 1814, the house belonged to Nathaniel and Annis Garrison. They later transferred it to Samuel and Tallman Garrison, who might have been Nathaniel's brothers. Tallman Garrison's will (a legal document about what happens to someone's property after they die) gave his half of the property to his brother William in 1817. Nathaniel and Annis likely kept living there.
Sparta changed when the Post Road was moved away from the house. This new road became the current Route 9. This helped Sing Sing (now Ossining) to the north, as it became a busy port for river shipping. Sparta began to lose its importance as a business center. Later, when the Hudson River Railroad was built, no station was made for Sparta.
Nathaniel Garrison passed away in 1843. His wife, Annis, later got the property back. Records show she paid property taxes on it in the 1860s. Local stories say she ran a very small shop in the house and took in people who needed a place to stay. During the Garrisons' time, the house was made twice as big, and the veranda was added. In 1845, Sparta became part of the Town of Ossining.
Rebuilding and Restoration
Nathaniel and Annis Garrison's grandsons sold the house to Michael Geisler in 1882. He spent much of the next year rebuilding it almost as it was. An old painting, thought to show the house before this work, looks very similar to how it is now. However, it shows two chimneys and signs of being old and worn out.
It's not certain why Geisler rebuilt the house. Maybe he wanted to fix it up. It's also possible it was damaged by fire. A newspaper story from that time reported that Geisler's home in Sparta burned. But it's not clear if this was the Jug Tavern itself, as Geisler owned other properties. Another newspaper story about the tavern being taken down a week later didn't mention a fire. It said that much of the original wooden frame was in good shape. So, it might have been used again in the rebuilt house or in a new house Geisler was building nearby.
Modern Era and Preservation
In 1901, the village of Sing Sing officially changed its name to Ossining. This was to avoid confusion with Sing Sing Prison. Five years later, Sparta voted to join the growing village of Ossining. Sparta had been struggling, with old buildings and some crime. This changed in 1919 when Frank A. Vanderlip, a wealthy banker, and his wife started to fix up the neighborhood. They bought many old houses and restored them.
The Jug Tavern, already renovated by the Geisler family, was not one of the houses Vanderlip restored. However, it was important to his efforts. Many houses were being fixed up in the "Colonial Revival" style, which looked like old colonial homes. The Jug Tavern was the only building in Sparta that actually dated back to that early period. Vanderlip's work, which continued for many years, brought a lot of attention to the area's history. During this time, many stories about the Jug Tavern became popular. These included tales of Revolutionary War figures stopping by or British prisoners being held in the cellar. It's hard to tell which of these stories are true and which are just legends.
Geisler's family lived in the house until 1974, when it was sold to the town. The village named Sparta a local historic district in 1975. Efforts to restore the Jug Tavern began, and it was added to the National Register in 1976. In 1986, the property was given to its current owner, Jug Tavern of Sparta Inc. This is a non-profit group that works to protect historic buildings. The restoration was finished in 1991.
What's in a Name? The Mystery of the Jug Tavern
There's still a lot of debate about whether the Jug Tavern was ever truly a tavern. And if it was, did people actually call it the "Jug Tavern"? There are no clear records of the property ever getting a special permit to serve drinks. In 1795, a man named William Hall did get a permit to run a tavern in Sparta, but the exact location isn't mentioned.
Some local stories say that drinks were given out for free, but only to people who could be trusted to keep it a secret. If this was true, then no permit would have been needed or recorded.
This belief also suggests that the name "Jug Tavern" came from a time when selling drinks by the jug, rather than by the glass, was not allowed. However, the name "Jug Tavern" doesn't show up in any official document about the building until 1947. The Geisler family, who lived there when the name became popular, reportedly didn't like it. Almost 30 years later, Frank Vanderlip's son said he had never heard the name in his lifetime. He said it was always known as the "Grapevine Inn" because of the decorations around the front door. An old photograph from 1895 seems to show these decorations.
