The following is an article which appeared in the Summer 2000 issue of Chester County Town & Country Living. It was written by John Sheppard, a freelance journalist whose articles on travel, art, history, antiques and the outdoors appear in regional and national publications.

Weary stagecoach travelers in colonial times in southern Chester County often were impressed by one characteristic of Pennsylvania inns: most were of stone or brick, in contrast to the wooden inns typical of northern colonies. They felt the thick fieldstone walls, handcut beams and timbers, wide board pine flooring and low windows gave the hostelries a great sense of place.

Also appealing to travelers in the eighteenth century were the small farms and orchards that surrounded the typical country inns, allowing them to keep their larders stocked with fruit and vegetables.

A blue-shuttered window frames a rocking chair for sitting and doing nothing

The community boasts of a variety of handsome old homes.
Most likely the inn or tavern was located in the crossroad villages, and served two important functions. First, it was a place of lodging and refreshment for travelers who could afford these amenities. In the so-called public rooms of Pennsylvania inns in those days, a patron could drink locally made beer, ale and cider, as well as a limited array of expensive wines and spirits. Second, it was the secular center of a neighborhood or community: sports, social gatherings and more serious community activities. In rural areas the innkeeper and his family were likely to be among the most influential citizens of their community.

More often than not, villages sprung up around these inns, usually attracting such trades as a blacksmith, wheelwright, saddler, shoemaker and tailor. It was widely known that tradesmen and their families, among others, felt these parts of southern Chester County had exceptional visual appeal, especially during the spring when the gardens at brick-and-stone houses burst into color. Some of the same views of soft green meadows painted with wildflowers still exist and often create in visitors a feeling of wanting to relive the grandeur of rural days gone by.


Bird houses with imaginative
details await visitors.

Gingerbread touches give house
a picturesque look.

[ Next Page ] [ Home ]