The Bissell Tavern or Bissell's Stage House is a historic traveler's accommodation at 1022 Palisado Avenue in

Windsor, Connecticut Windsor is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of ...

. 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 the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

and

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1985.

Description and history

The former Bissell Tavern is located in northern Windsor, on the east side of Palisado Avenue ( Connecticut Route 159), 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 into Long Isl ...

. 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 The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

who had been captured in the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at and near the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn ...

. 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.

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

Description and history

See also

References