Newcom Tavern, also known as the "Old Cabin", is an historic structure in
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...
and is the city's oldest existing building. It was built in 1796 for Colonel George Newcom and his wife Mary, who ran it as a tavern and hostel. The building passed through several owners, and its historical significance was forgotten until planned construction revealed the original log structure. The building was moved twice and now located in Dayton's
Carillon Historical Park
Carillon Historical Park is a 65-acre (26.3 ha) park and museum in Dayton, Ohio, which contains historic buildings and exhibits concerning the history of technology and the history of Dayton and its residents from 1796 to the present. As a part of ...
and operated as a museum.
Settlement of the area
Dayton was first established as the New Jersey Land Company, under the leadership of
Jonathan Dayton
Jonathan Dayton (October 16, 1760October 9, 1824) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and politician from the U.S. state of New Jersey. He was the youngest person to sign the Constitution of the United States ...
, with partners
General Wilkinson
James Wilkinson (March 24, 1757 – December 28, 1825) was an Americans, American soldier, politician, and double agent who was associated with several scandals and controversies.
He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution ...
,
General St. Clair and
Colonel Ludlow, employed surveyors to lay out a town site between the two
Miami rivers.
[Newcom Tavern](_blank)
Touring Ohio. Retrieved August 02, 2012.
Construction and early use
The original structure was built in 1796 for Colonel George Newcom, one of the first settlers in Dayton after the
Treaty of Greenville
The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples, ...
(1795) and Dayton's first sheriff, state senator, clerk of courts, and bank president, and his wife Mary.
It was built by millwright Robert Edgar and was one of the first structures built in the area.
Edgar received seventy-five cents a day for its construction.
Edgar lodged at the Newcoms' one room cabin while working, paying one deer a week for room and board.
The house originally consisted of two rooms: one upstairs and one downstairs, with a ladder to access the upstairs room, and was located at what became the southwest corner of Main and Water (later renamed Monument) Streets.
The size of the cabin was doubled two years after it was built when the Newcoms added a tavern to generate income; food and lodging for one person and a horse cost 65 cents.
The building served as Dayton's first school,
first church, courthouse, council chamber and store.
Church services were held in the building for three years until 1799, when a
blockhouse
A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
was built, after which services were held in the blockhouse.
It was best known as a crossroads tavern in the
Northwest Territory
The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...
for
pioneers and
drovers.
During the War of 1812 it was used by Colonel
Robert Patterson
Robert Patterson (January 12, 1792 – August 7, 1881) was an Irish-born United States major general during the American Civil War, chiefly remembered for inflicting an early defeat on Stonewall Jackson, but crucially failing to stop Confede ...
as his headquarters.
In 1815 the Newcoms sold the tavern, which passed through other owners until purchased by Joseph Shaffer, who used it as a general store until 1894. In 1881 the upper floor was rented by Frederick Husson and his wife, who delivered a baby girl in a second floor bedroom in 1883.
Move to Van Cleve Park
The building had been covered in clapboards, which disguised the log structure, and the historical significance of it had been forgotten, and in 1894, architect
Charles Insco Williams
Charles Insco Williams (December 12, 1853 - February 13, 1923) was an artist and architect in Dayton, Ohio.
Biography
He was born on December 12, 1853, to Mary Forman and John Insco Williams. His father seems to have been an accomplished pain ...
planned to raze the structure to make room for an apartment building.
Removal of the clapboards revealed the log structure, and the tavern was rediscovered.
The building's owner donated it to the city, and
John Patterson, owner of National Cash Register (now
NCR) donated funds to move it to
Van Cleve Park
A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across t ...
, now
RiverScape MetroPark.
In 1896 the Centennial Celebration Committee helped move the structure to the park
on Monument Avenue and the
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence.
A non-profit group, they promote ...
raised money to restore it. In 1896 it was opened as a public museum and held relics donated by Daytonians.
The building was flooded during the
1913 Great Dayton Flood but survived.
Civil War veteran
Frederick Phillip Beaver Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederi ...
, who owned Dayton's
Beaver Power Company, left $10,000 for the building's preservation in his 1936 will.
Move to Carillon Park
In 1962 the Dayton and Montgomery County Historical Society, which owned the building, decided it should be moved to more accessible site, as the Van Cleve site did not have adjacent parking.
In October of 1964, the Tavern was relocated to
Carillon Historical Park
Carillon Historical Park is a 65-acre (26.3 ha) park and museum in Dayton, Ohio, which contains historic buildings and exhibits concerning the history of technology and the history of Dayton and its residents from 1796 to the present. As a part of ...
(then Carillon Park)
where it joined the Pioneer House as part of the Settlement Exhibit. The move took twelve hours, requiring a circuitous five-mile route and two crossings of the
Great Miami River
The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...
to move the building two miles.
Negotiating Mound Street as it crosses West Fifth Street took an hour and a half.
The building was reopened in May of 1965 and its ownership transferred to Educational and Music Arts, Inc., the managers of Carillon Park and the Deeds Carillon.
Present at the ceremony were several members of the Newcom family and the woman who had been born in the building in 1883.
The lower level of the tavern is open to the public, but the upper level is no longer open.
References
External links
Newcom Tavern by Anonymousat
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
{{coord, 39.728721, -84.200186, display=title, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-OH
Houses completed in 1796
Museums in Dayton, Ohio
Relocated buildings and structures in Ohio
Relocated houses
1796 establishments in the Northwest Territory