Bagg's Hotel was located in

Utica, New York Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...

. The Bagg's Tavern preceded it and hosted General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

General Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...

Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...

and General

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

. It was a log house founded in 1794 by Moses Bagg. Bagg's Square Memorial Park marks the historic location. Bagg's Hotel menu

Establishment

Moses Bagg, a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, first came to the

Old Fort Schuyler Old Fort Schuyler was a Revolutionary War fort that existed in Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the ...

on a

flat boat A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a ...

up the

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk f ...

in 1793. In 1794 he purchased four acres of land from Joseph Ballou for his business on Main Street. The same year, he constructed a hotel for travelers waiting for their horses to be shoed. It grew from being a "shanty", to a two story wooden building, and was taken over by Moses Bagg Jr. after his father's death in 1805. Guests included

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexand ...

and

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

. The original site was bought out and built into what became known as the Northern Hotel until it burned down in 1870. Meanwhile, Baggs Jr. built his hotel across the street taking on the name "Shepard’s Hotel". D.M. Johnson managed the hotel for 15 years until his death in 1902.

Nineteenth century

The "Utica Tally-Ho Stage Coach" transited travelers to and from the hotel. There was a fire in the "wineroom" in 1895.

Present day

The "Bagg's Square" name is still used in

to refer to part of the downtown district.

References

External links

''1863 menu from Bagg's Hotel'' - University of Houston Digital Library
{{Coord, 43, 6, 9, N, 75, 13, 19, W, display=title Hotels in New York (state)