Tavern on Mutton Hill in Charlotte, Vermont

Today’s video is about the Tavern on Mutton Hill in Charlotte, Vermont.

Fun story about using Google Maps as my GPS. Directions were to turn onto Church Hill Road. Okey dokey. “Turn right onto Tavern Road.” Um, there was NO Tavern Road. There was a Mutton Hill Road to my left. From there was a Mutton Hill Drive and still no Tavern Road. Want to know the actual location of the Tavern??? It is DIRECTLY on Church Hill Road!! Thank you, Google!

The Tavern is on the right, if coming from the Route 7 side. It sits in a cluster of houses of similar age. Admittedly, when I drove up on it, my first thought was “magnificent “. I was in absolute awe. Thankfully, it is beautifully kept. I’ve seen a lot of buildings in sad shape recently. This was a sight on which to feast my eyes!

The Tavern on Mutton Hill, also known locally (and incorrectly) as the 1812 Tavern, is a historic former public accommodation on Church Hill Road in Charlotte, Vermont. Built in 1813, it is a prominent local example of Federal period architecture, and the town’s only documented 19th-century tavern house built out of brick. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[1]

The Tavern on Mutton Hill stands in a cluster of residential buildings in an otherwise rural area of northeastern Charlotte, on the west side of Church Hill Road south of its junction with Mutton Hill Road. It is a 2-1/2 story brick structure, with a redstone foundation and window sills. The gable ends each have two chimneys, joined by a raised parapet. The front facade is six bays wide, with the main entrance set in the bay left of center; it is topped by a rectangular transom with a sunburst pattern. The interior retains period woodwork and finishes, although there have been numerous alterations, including the removal of some walls and the addition of partitions. The former ballroom space on the second floor, extending across the front of the building, has survived with little alteration.[2]

The tavern was built in 1813 by Nathaniel Newell, the son of the local Congregationalist minister Abel Newell, who died the previous year in a typhus epidemic. Newell was the town’s wealthiest citizen and a prominent civic leader, serving in the state legislature. In addition to owning this tavern (where he lived with his family), he owned a local tannery, and a dry goods store in Burlington. The tavern is located on what was formerly the principal stagecoach route through Charlotte, and an early alignment of United States Route 7. The tavern was owned by the Edgerton family for more than a century after passing out of the hands of the Newell family.[2]”-https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavern_on_Mutton_Hill

Tavern on Mutton Hill (aka 1812 Tavern) in Charlotte, Vermont. Photo snapped on December 3, 2021. Note how close it is to the road.

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