Spent the 4th of July drinking pints of Ale at the historic Wayside Inn and watching muster practice. Must have drunk too much, because I screwed the shutter settings on the camera up, so the pictures are really underexposed. Anyone interested in the history of the Wayside Inn can find more at http://www.wayside.org.
Longfellow's Wayside Inn was originally known as Howe's Tavern from 1716 to 1861. The first innkeeper, David Howe, operated what was then called a hous of entertainment along the old Boston Post Road in the same spot the Wayside Inn stands today. David and his wife Hebzibah's first home appeared quite a bit different than the Wayside Inn's rambling structure. It was typical by 18th century standards but small when compared to today's homes; two total rooms, one over the other. He raised his first five children in this house, and it is believed that he doubled its size, adding two more rooms, by the time he received a license to operate an inn in 1716. The size of the Howe's home and business would continue to grow as each subsequent innkeeper would leave his own mark on the Colonial landmark.
David Howe was a successful innkeeper -- his father and grandfather were innkeepers in the neighboring town of Marlborough -- and thrived by way of the busy coach traffic to and from the cities of Boston and Worcester. In 1746 he passed the family business to his son, Ezekiel, a Lt. Col. in the Revolutionary War who led the Sudbury Minute and Militia to Concord center on that fateful day of April 19, 1775. The sword Ezekiel carried with him to Concord, as well as his shoe buckles, trouser buckles, and cuff links, are on display in the Inn.
Ezekiel was a prosperous innkeeper, acquiring a set of expensive export china for his daughter as a wedding gift in 1788 (a cup and saucer from this set is in the Inn's permanent collection). Ezekiel passed the tavern business to his son, Adam, in 1796, who in turn handed it down to his son, Lyman, in 1830. Lyman died in 1861 having never married, and the Inn was inherited by relatives who ceased operating the Howe home as an overnight accommodation. Local folks rented the hall for dances, and itinerant farmers occupied smaller rooms for lengthy stays, but the Howe innkeeping business would not thrive again until a wool merchant from Malden, Massachusetts showed new interest in 1897.