Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Doorway to History



Gadsby's Tavern, has been in business for 250 years, on the same corner, a couple of blocks down the street from George Washington's city house in Alexandria, Virginia.  Over the years the fortunes of Gadsby's have gone up and down, and back up again.  If you are in the neighborhood, stop in for lunch or dinner, or just a drink standing in the place of the founding fathers, and history ever since.  

Back in the first half of the last century, the tavern was used primarily as a VFW post, and money was tight.  So tight that the colonial era front door, one of the finest examples of it's kind, was sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.  The removal of this architectural detail drew the attention of some locals, locals who became historic preservationists.  Historic preservation become a local priority, after all how many places can document that General Washington drank here.  Eventually the front door was returned and reinstalled.  You can pass through it today.  

We had the lunch for our wedding at Gadsby's, the tavern is still witness to history.  

2 comments:

  1. that is one place todd & I never tried whilst we lived in the area. guess we have to come back and check it out.

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