The Bissell Tavern or Bissell's Stage House is a historic traveler's accommodation at 1022 Palisado Avenue in
Windsor, Connecticut. Now a private residence, it was built in 1796, and served in the 19th century as a stagecoach stop along the main route between
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
and
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Description and history
The former Bissell Tavern is located in northern Windsor, on the east side of Palisado Avenue (
Connecticut Route 159
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
), south of its junction with Hayden Station Road. Palisado Avenue is the major non-highway north–south route along the west bank of the
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
. The tavern house is a two-story wood-frame structure, with a hip roof, end chimneys, and clapboarded exterior. The main facade is five bays wide, with a center entrance topped by a four-light transom window. There is a 19th-century porch attached to the south side, and a single-story ell to the rear.
The tavern was built in 1796 by Ebenezer Fitch Bissell, Sr. The Bissells were one of the first families to settle Windsor, arriving in 1640. Bissell was a veteran of the
American Revolutionary War who had been captured in the
Battle of Long Island. The Palisado Green area, just south of the tavern, developed in the early 19th century as a trading nexus, and Bissell's son turned the house into a tavern, a role it apparently kept until about 1833. It has remained in the interrelated Bissell and Hayden families as a private residence since then.
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See also
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References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut
Georgian architecture in Connecticut
Houses completed in 1796
Houses in Windsor, Connecticut
1796 establishments in Connecticut