The cache is not hidden on the building or near the buildings; please be respectful of the building, it is in the process of being restored back to its original state or close to the original state, when it was originally built. You do not have to go inside the wooden fence, so you can find it close to the sidewalk without disturbing the area.
Midway between Gettysburg and Harrisburg, PA, sits an old stone house that has a story to tell. For all recent memory, the true character of the house has been hidden by years of modifications and additions. Only now are the stories being told. Dills Tavern is a twelve room, store structure, erected from 1794 to 1819.
It began around 1742, over 30 years before our nation was founded, when Mathew Dill arrived from Monaghan, Ireland and acquired 504 acres here, near a spring. Sometime around 1750, his son James built a simple square 2-story stone structure, though it was grand for its time and place. In fact, no other buildings in the area outside of the towns of York and Carlisle could boast such a treasure.
The frontier was a dangerous place at that time. Settlers were subject to Indian attacks, and carving farms out of such an environment was a daunting task. But carve it he did. Soon "Dill's" became a landmark for travelers to find refuge from the elements. By 1758, he petitioned for and was granted a license to operate a tavern, a place for locals and travelers to find "entertainment," which in the 18th century's mind, meant food and lodging.
For about a hundred year period, these establishments became the primary building blocks of the new nation. Travel by foot or horseback required a source of sustenance approximately every 8 to 12 miles and very few public places were yet built across the countryside. In fact, the local taverns became the civic centers, as a place to meet others, exchange news, receive mail, attend church services, conduct trade, recover lost livestock, obtain medical care from traveling doctors, dance at a ball, and vote in an election.
Though no actual records of transactions at James Dill's Tavern in this era have yet surfaced (nor of his son John's later ownership), it was certainly typical of the period, as recorded in other nearby taverns. The supporting farm operation was extensive and included many outbuildings and additional acreage, requiring the labor of both indentured servants, as well as slaves. Records do exist at the local church and at courthouses, detailing Mathew's participation as an elder in the church, as well as a captain in the volunteer militia, as well as a local justice. This was truly an eventful time in our nation's history, during both the early French and Indian War period and the later Revolutionary War, as we sought and obtained independence. The area around what is now Dillsburg, PA, contributed significantly to the birth of the nation, including raising, supplying, and transporting troops and materials. These records make fascinating reading. We have extensive records of tavern transactions during the later periods of ownership, which include names of patrons, types and amounts of purchases and some fascinating diary-type entries. This era began in 1800, when Leonard Eichelberger, half brother of the owner of a famous restored tavern in York, the Golden Plough, bought the tavern. It then became known as "Eichelberger's Tavern." In addition to tavern and farm operations and expansion of the stone structure (during which time it began to be referred to as a "mansion farm and plantation"), Leonard continued his wheelwright, wagon making, and hauling trades.
The Eichelberger era of several generations through 1835 saw a huge increase in business. A well was dug outside the front door and other tenant farmhouses were built. A large distillery operation ensued to support the tavern, as well as help local farmers convert their crops into cash. Whiskey was moved in hogsheads (250 gallon barrels) by multi-horse hitched wagons over rough roads to Baltimore, MD. Return trips brought fish and oysters from the bay and all manner of imported goods, like chocolate, sugar, molasses, buttons, combs, fish hooks, gunpowder, shot, and anything that could not be grown on the farm or made in local shops. A general store type operation evolved as the tavern trade slowly diminished, due to faster overland travel.
Subsequent years saw ownership transfer through successive generations of daughters, whose names became Welty, Coover, and Logan. Caroline and Helen Logan where the final private owners to use the Stone House as a residence. They operated an antique business on the premises until their deaths in the early 1960's. The building sat vacant, but fully furnished, for another 30 years and was only recently acquired by the Northern York County Historical and Preservation Society, which is in the process of a museum-quality restoration.
The building has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places for its significance as an example of an early tavern. It will become one of the few surviving taverns to be restored to its original condition and open to the public for interpretation of the huge role played by the tavern in the life of early America. This is truly a national landmark!
Men and women of the 18th century were the builders. Their essence still lingers among the stones and rooms of the tavern they built. Come visit and touch the stones. Think of those men, ever cognizant of a hostile attack, while they mixed the mortar and laid each stone in place; or perhaps sense the apprehension of a woman listening for noises in the night as she lay half awake and alone after a full day of caring for her children, feeding the stock, and tending to the crops, while her man went off to battle. These were brave and hardy people.