The Humphrey Pratt Tavern is a historic house at 287 Main Street in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Built in 1785, it was associated with the locally prominent Pratt family for many years, and served as a tavern and stagecoach stop in the 18th and 19th centuries. 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 v ...

in 1976.

Description and history

The Humphrey Pratt Tavern is located in Old Saybrook's central

South Green South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

area, on the west side of Main Street southwest of its junction with the Old Boston Post Road. It consists of a main block, stories in height, five bays wide, with end chimneys, and a -story gambrel-roofed ell extending to the rear. It is finished in wooden clapboards, and has a symmetrical facade with a slightly overhanging second story. The main entrance is at the center, sheltered by a Greek Revival hip-roofed portico supported by square columns with modest capitals. The interior follows a central hall plan, and is extended by a two-story addition to the rear and a single-story ell to the side. The house was built in 1785 by Humphrey Pratt, and it remained in the Pratt family until 1943. Pratt was Old Saybrook's first postmaster, operating the town's post office on these premises. It was a popular meeting place, given its central location in the town, and on the main stagecoach route between

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

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. The rear addition has a ballroom with sprung wooden floor on the second floor, where the Marquis de Lafayette is said to have danced.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Humphrey, Tavern Buildings and structures in Middlesex County, Connecticut Houses completed in 1785 National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Connecticut Historic district contributing properties in Connecticut Old Saybrook, Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References