The Waterman Tavern is a historic house and tavern at 486 Maple Valley Road, near
Whaley's Hollow in
Coventry, Rhode Island
Coventry is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island. The population was 35,688 at the 2020 census and is part of the .
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of . of it is land and of it (4.49%) is wate ...
. The -story wood-frame house was built before 1747 by John Waterman, who was licensed to operate a tavern on the premises in that year. It is five bays wide with a central chimney. The site was advantageously located on the main road between
Providence
Providence often refers to:
* Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion
* Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions
* Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
and
Plainfield, Connecticut
Plainfield is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 14,973 at the 2020 U ...
. The tavern was a center of civic discourse, and town meetings were regularly held there until 1835.
The tavern was one of the first stops along the
route
Route or routes may refer to:
* Air route, route structure or airway
* GPS route, a series of one or more GPS waypoints
* Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver
* Route (command), a program used to configure the routing table
* ...
taken by
Count de Rochambeau's army during its 1781 march from Providence to
Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown is a town in York County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in Colony of Virginia, colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while ...
during 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 ...
. The main army camped near the tavern, while the officers were quartered in the tavern itself.
[
The building 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 1974.[
]
See also
*Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
The Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route is a series of roads used in 1781 by the Continental Army under the command of George Washington and the ''Expédition Particulière'' under the command of Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau during the ...
*List of historic sites preserved along Rochambeau's route
A series of sites along the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route have been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places or otherwise recognized and preserved. Buildings or roadway or other artifacts at these sites have been ...
*
References
Waterman Tavern- Historical Marker database - HMbb
Commercial buildings completed in 1744
Taverns in Rhode Island
Drinking establishments on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island
Historic places on the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
Buildings and structures in Coventry, Rhode Island
National Register of Historic Places in Kent County, Rhode Island
1744 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies
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