Stacy's Tavern is a historic wayside

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

inn in the village of

Glen Ellyn Glen Ellyn is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. A suburb located due west of downtown Chicago, the village has a population of 28,846 as of the 2020 Census. History Glen Ellyn, like the neighboring town to the east, Lombar ...

DuPage County, Illinois DuPage County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it List of ...

. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 29, 1974.

History

Among the settlers coming to northern Illinois following the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...

in 1832 were Moses Stacy and his family. Stacy often opened his home as a boarding house for passing travelers, so when he constructed his new home in 1846 he opened it as a wayside

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

. Stagecoach travelers moving between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crysta ...

, area farmers heading to market in Chicago, and settlers moving westward farther still all made use of Stacy's Tavern.History: Stacy's Tavern
Glen Ellyn Historical Society. For 50 cents guests could overnight, including two meals and enough hay for two horses. At the inn they could wash with water from the indoor tavern well or warm themselves near the

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

stove. Stacy's was limited by law to allowing only five travelers per bed. The home was built in a modified Greek revival style and the boards were milled at a nearby sawmill, Gary's Mill and the bricks were handmade. It was the railroad that hailed the death knell of Stacy Tavern as a wayside inn. Even after the arrival of the railroad, Stacy and his wife continued to use the house as their residence until Moses died in 1870 and his wife in 1899. They are buried in nearby Forest Hill Cemetery.

Restoration

The Village of Glen Ellyn purchased the property in 1968, and along with the Glen Ellyn Historical Society restored it to the state of a typical tavern inn of the late 1840s. Restorers studied old photos, removed numerous paint layers, and analyzed architectural elements to detail the original construction of the tavern. Artifacts furnishing the tavern were collected by the Society from across the United States, and the chairs in the Tap Room were made by an Illinois carpenter in the 1840s. In 1974 it was added to 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 ...

and was honored by Illinois as the only tavern from its period still standing on its original foundation at its original location. In 1976 Glen Ellyn opened Stacy's Tavern to the public as a museum as part of the town's contribution to the American bicentennial.

References

External links

Official site
{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in DuPage County, Illinois Commercial buildings completed in 1846 Glen Ellyn, Illinois Museums in DuPage County, Illinois Historic house museums in Illinois Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois 1846 establishments in Illinois