Tankersley Tavern, also known as Old Bridge, is a historic building located near Lexington,

Rockbridge County, Virginia Rockbridge County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,650. Its county seat is the city of Lexington. Rockbridge County completely surrounds the in ...

. It was built in three sections with the oldest dated to about 1835. It is a two-story, nine-bay, single pile, frame building with an exposed basement and a decorative two-level gallery on the front facade. Also on the property are the contributing washhouse/kitchen, three frame sheds and a stone abutment for a bridge. It was originally built as a toll house (toll gate) at the county end of the bridge crossing the

Maury River The Maury River is a tributary of the James River in west-central Virginia in the United States. It is part of the watershed of Chesapeake Bay. Course The Maury flows for its entire length in Rockbridge County. It is formed near Goshen by the ...

from the Valley Turnpike into Lexington. It later housed a

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern t ...

, canal ticket office, general store,

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

, and dwelling. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1988.

References

Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Commercial buildings completed in 1835 Buildings and structures in Rockbridge County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Rockbridge County, Virginia 1835 establishments in Virginia {{RockbridgeCountyVA-NRHP-stub