Taverns of the Upper Connecticut Valley: Springfield, Wilbraham, and Palmer in Colonial New England

In colonial New England, taverns were not simply places to drink. From the mid-1600s through the late 1700s, they functioned as essential public institutions. They served food and drink, offered lodging, hosted meetings, transmitted news, and supported local government and commerce. Nowhere was this more evident than in frontier and crossroads communities like Springfield and its surrounding upland towns, including Wilbraham and Palmer.

Taverns appeared early in New England’s settlement history. Massachusetts Bay Colony law required towns to license public houses, often called “ordinaries,” so that travelers, officials, and residents had reliable access to meals and shelter. The first recorded tavern in Boston opened in 1634, and by the mid-1600s, taverns had become a regular feature of nearly every established town.

Colonial authorities tightly regulated these establishments. Tavern keepers had to be licensed annually, their moral character reviewed, prices posted, and behavior inside their walls monitored. Despite Puritan concerns about drunkenness and disorder, taverns were considered necessary for maintaining social stability and supporting travel and trade.

Springfield, founded in 1636 by William Pynchon, began as a fur-trading post at the junction of the Connecticut River and major inland routes. Its strategic location quickly made it one of the most important inland settlements in western Massachusetts. Because it sat on the primary north–south river corridor and the east–west overland route connecting Boston to Albany and New York, Springfield naturally became a tavern town.

Town records show that Springfield licensed tavern keepers by at least the 1660s. One of the earliest documented was Nathaniel Ely, who was authorized in 1665 to keep a public house. These early taverns provided meals and lodging for travelers, court officials, merchants, and soldiers; hosted town meetings, militia musters, court sessions, and election gatherings when no formal public buildings were available; and acted as communication hubs where newspapers were read aloud and news from Boston, Hartford, and Albany circulated.

By the 1700s, Springfield had several well-known taverns, including Parsons Tavern, located near what is now Court Square. Operated by Zenas Parsons, it became one of the most prominent stopping places on the Boston–New York route. In October 1789, President George Washington stopped at Parsons Tavern while touring New England and inspecting the Springfield Armory, underscoring the tavern’s regional importance.

Parsons Taveren. Lost New England

Although no surviving menus exist from Springfield’s colonial taverns, their fare would have matched what was common throughout New England. Foods included roasted or stewed beef, pork, mutton, and chicken; salted cod; root vegetables; bread and johnnycake; pies; and Indian pudding made from cornmeal, milk, and molasses. Drinks centered on hard cider, the most common beverage, along with ale, beer, imported rum, and mixed drinks such as flips—beer or cider mixed with rum and heated with a hot iron. Meals were typically served communally at set hours, with no printed menus; patrons ate whatever the tavern keeper’s kitchen had prepared that day.

Wilbraham, originally part of Springfield and later incorporated as a separate town in 1763, developed along important interior travel routes connecting Springfield to Palmer, Monson, and eastern Massachusetts. Though more rural than Springfield, Wilbraham required taverns to support travelers, drovers, ministers, and residents attending meetings and court sessions.

By the mid-1700s, Wilbraham licensed its own tavern keepers. These establishments were typically located along major roads and near the town center. As in Springfield, Wilbraham’s taverns served as rest stops for stagecoach and horseback travelers; places for militia gatherings and civic meetings; informal post offices and news centers; and community hubs for socializing and business transactions.

Because Wilbraham was primarily an agricultural town, its tavern fare relied heavily on locally produced food, pork, beef, poultry, dairy, apples for cider, and cornmeal. Local farmers often supplied taverns directly, making them important nodes in the town’s small-scale economy.

Several Wilbraham taverns are known by name. Brewer’s Tavern, traditionally dated to around 1748, stood at what is now 473 Main Street. It is listed as an early commercial building in Wilbraham’s colonial records. The structure that housed it survives into the modern era, though it was significantly altered in the nineteenth century.

Brewer’s Tavern in 1893. Digital Commonwealth

Sikes’ Tavern, operated by Reuben Sikes, stood along the old County Road, the principal east–west route between Springfield and eastern Massachusetts. Its location corresponds to the present-day 40 Maple Street area. Writing in 1863, local historian Rufus Stebbins recorded that Sikes maintained a tavern there for several years in the late eighteenth century. While surviving documentation is limited, repeated local accounts have led historians to consider its existence probable.

David Warriner’s Tavern was operated by David Warriner (1742–1783), a Wilbraham resident descended from early settlers. His tavern stood on the site later occupied by Rich Hall, which became part of Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy when it opened in 1825. Warriner’s tavern reflects a common colonial pattern: large tavern buildings often served as inns and meeting places before being adapted for institutional uses.

A later tavern era is represented by the Ten-Mile House, operated by John Baldwin and his wife Philena at 10 Maple Street from about 1836 to around 1860–1865. It was so named because it stood roughly ten miles from Springfield, a common reference point for travelers. That building still stands today, preserving a tangible link to Wilbraham’s long tavern tradition.

In the southern part of town, now known as Hampden, several taverns were established to serve travelers and local residents. One of the earliest was operated by Colonel John McCray at the corner of Main Street and Somers Road, a location later known as 1 Main Street by 1850. The intersection itself was long referred to as “McCray Corner,” and the nearby school was known as the McCray Corner School. After Colonel McCray, the tavern was conducted by Pliny Allen, who renamed it the Allen House.

The  Allen House. Digital Commonwealth

Another notable tavern was operated by Hannah and John Davis. John Davis, a Revolutionary War veteran, built a large saltbox-style house on Stafford Road after returning from his service. He used the home as a tavern, which became a regular stopping place on the Springfield–Stafford stage line.

In the 1790s, Stephen West constructed the present house located at 667 Main Street and operated a tavern there. His daybooks still survive and provide valuable insight into the business conducted at the inn. In 1808, West sold the tavern to William Wood, Jr., and it later passed to Comfort Chaffee, Jr., and Jonathan Chaffee. Rudolphus Chaffee, son of Comfort Chaffee, operated the inn during this period. The house features a massive central chimney containing seven fireplaces, including one with a bake oven in the basement inn kitchen and another with an oven in the first-floor kitchen. The remaining five fireplaces served the living rooms and bedrooms.

In 1807, Mr. Tillotson erected another notable tavern building at 650 Main Street, distinguished by one of the few hip roofs in town. He operated a tavern there until 1812, when he sold the property to James S. Dwight and Edmund Dwight. In 1814, Edmund Dwight sold the property to John McCray, who continued to operate it as a tavern.

Wilbraham’s taverns were shaped by the same transportation patterns that defined New England travel. The Old Connecticut Path and Bay Path, originally Indigenous routes, were later used by mail riders and stagecoach lines. These roads connected Springfield and interior Massachusetts to Boston and the coast, generating demand for taverns at regular intervals for food, drink, lodging, and news exchange. Brewer’s, Sikes’, and Warriner’s Taverns were not simply drinking spots; they were vital infrastructure in a society dependent on horseback, stagecoach, and foot travel through forests and rough roads.

Farther east, the settlement that became Palmer took shape by the mid-eighteenth century. Originally part of Brimfield and informally known as the “Elbow Tract,” the area saw its first settlers, such as John King, in 1716, before being named Palmer in 1752 and incorporated in 1775.

Palmer’s location made it a natural stop along roads leading deeper into central Massachusetts. Early records and architectural surveys identify several taverns at the heart of its first village centers. Daniel Graves obtained a license to keep a house of entertainment before 1760; his son, Major Aaron Graves, had the license renewed in 1761. The Graves tavern stood opposite the famed Washington Elm, where tradition holds that George Washington and his party rested and took refreshments on June 30, 1775, while traveling to take command of the Continental Army.

At Palmer Old Centre, Dunkin Quinton opened a tavern around 1733. It was later kept by Thomas Quinton, William King, John King, John Frink, Abner Allen, and Elias Turner, and became known as the stage tavern. John Thomson Sr. built another tavern nearby around 1737, which became a favorite gathering place on Sundays and election days. On the Old Bay Road, Captain David Shaw kept a house of entertainment in the 1740s and 1750s. Scott’s Tavern, east of Scott’s Bridge, operated from about 1778 to 1794. These establishments clustered along what became known as Tavern Road, a well-traveled route for stagecoaches and wagons.

Across Springfield, Wilbraham, and Palmer, the colonial tavern experience shared many similarities. There were no printed menus. Meals were communal and based on what the tavern keeper prepared from local produce and preserved supplies. Roasted pork or beef, stews made with salted fish and vegetables, breads, pies, and cornmeal dishes such as Indian pudding were common fare. Drinks were not fringe pleasures but daily sustenance. Hard cider was standard; ale and beer supplemented meals, and rum, shipped north from the Caribbean, was a favored spirit. In winter, heated drinks like hot toddies warmed travelers against the cold.

The tavern hearth was also a place where news was exchanged. Newspapers were read aloud, letters passed among travelers and residents, and discussions held about everything from local elections to imperial taxation. In the decades leading up to the American Revolution, taverns served as informal meeting halls where patriots debated British policies and planned responses. Militia units frequently assembled at or near taverns before drills or mobilizations.

In colonial New England taverns, sleeping arrangements were practical and communal. Taverns were not hotels in the modern sense but working households that adapted their limited space to accommodate travelers.

Most taverns had only a few private bedchambers, usually reserved for prominent guests such as magistrates, ministers, or military officers. Ordinary travelers typically slept in shared rooms, often called the “great chamber,” where several beds or trundle beds were placed side by side. During busy periods, such as court sessions or stagecoach arrivals, these rooms could be completely full.

Bed-sharing was common and socially accepted. Strangers often slept two or more to a bed, sometimes arranged head-to-foot. Late arrivals might sleep on the floor near the hearth or in lofts above kitchens and stables. In rural taverns like those in Wilbraham and Palmer, drovers and teamsters were sometimes lodged in barns or haylofts during peak travel periods.

Beds were simple wooden frames filled with straw, corn husks, or feathers, covered with linen sheets and wool blankets. Cleanliness varied widely, and travelers’ accounts frequently mention fleas, lice, and bedbugs. Privacy was minimal, with men and women separated when space allowed, though families often stayed together. Candles were extinguished early, leaving rooms dark once the household settled for the night.

Guests rose early to make room for new arrivals. Lodging was usually paid by the night and sometimes bundled with supper and breakfast, with rates often regulated by local authorities.

In short, a night in a colonial tavern was crowded and utilitarian. Comfort and privacy were limited, but for travelers in 17th- and 18th-century western Massachusetts, these shared quarters were a necessary and accepted part of life on the road.

By the early 1800s, changes in transportation and society began to alter tavern culture. Turnpikes, canals, railroads, and purpose-built hotels reduced the tavern’s central role as a traveler’s stop. Social reform movements also pressured taverns to limit alcohol consumption. In Springfield, urban development erased nearly all physical traces of colonial taverns. In Wilbraham and Palmer, later development replaced or repurposed many of the original tavern buildings.

Yet their legacy endures. Taverns were not marginal businesses. They were community centers, communication hubs, economic catalysts, and social theaters. They supported early transportation and trade, provided the setting for civic and political life, and helped connect the scattered settlements of western Massachusetts to the wider currents of colonial society.

For towns like Springfield, Wilbraham, and Palmer, taverns were foundational institutions, welcoming weary travelers, nourishing local farmers, and offering spaces where news and fellowship flowed as freely as hard cider in worn oak mugs. In the story of this region’s early days, they stand as quiet but essential pillars of community life.