The Black Horse Tavern is a historic building at 175 North Cove Road in

Old Saybrook, Connecticut Old Saybrook is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Connecticut, Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 10, ...

. Built c. 1712 by John Burrows, this -story wood-frame structure is one of few early 18th-century buildings still standing in Connecticut, built on land that was among the earliest settled in the area. Now a private residence, 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 1978.

Description and history

The Black Horse Tavern is located near the eastern end of Saybrook Point, a peninsula dividing two coves (North and South Coves) on the west side 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 ...

near its mouth at

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...

. The tavern's location is a short distance west of the site of

Fort Saybrook A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

, the first element of the

Saybrook Colony The Saybrook Colony was a short-lived English colony established in New England in 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in what is today Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Saybrook was founded by a group of Puritan noblemen as a potential politic ...

, built in 1635. The tavern is a -story timber-framed structure, with a gabled roof and slightly off-center chimney. Its main facade is four bays wide, with the entrance in the center-left bay; the chimney is positioned behind the entrance. The entrance, which features an original vertical board door, is flanked by pilasters and topped by a half-round fanlight, and is sheltered by a gabled portico. The interior layout has a large front-to-back chamber to the right of the chimney, and a parlor and kitchen to the left and behind. The tavern was built about 1712 by John Burrows, on land originally deeded to John Clark Sr. in 1644. The North Cove was then coming into use as a shipbuilding center, and the tavern operated by Burrows would have served its workers and travelers moving on the river. North Cove Road was then also the major road following the western shore of the river, another source of passing travelers. The building served as a tavern providing services to passing travelers, under a variety of owners, until 1924, and is now a private residence. and

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Houses in Old Saybrook, Connecticut Houses completed in 1712 National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Connecticut Historic district contributing properties in Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References