National Register of Historic Places

Merchants' and Drovers' Tavern

Rahway, Union County, New Jersey
Listed
November 21, 1978
Type
Building
Period
Early Republic
Ref No.
78001801

About this property

The Merchants and Drovers Tavern is located at 1632 Saint Georges Avenue in the city of Rahway in Union County, New Jersey, United States. On November 21, 1978, the historic tavern was added to the National Register of Historic Places, for its significance in architecture, commerce, and transportation. The exact construction dates of the building have been the source of some historical debate. Sample analysis of the building's wooden frame conducted by Columbia University's Lamont Dougherty Earth Sciences Observatory suggested that there were two distinct periods of construction : 1795–1796 and 1818–1819. The claim that the building did not exist until 1795 at the earliest is supported by the fact that the first innkeeper, John Anderson, did not receive a tavern license until 1798, after the initial period of construction. It only began operation as a hotel around 1825, after the recent addition turned the two and a half story building into a three and a half story one. In the 1960s, the Rahway Historical Society formed and saved the historic building from destruction by purchasing it and transforming it into the center for historical interpretation that it is today. The Museum is presently looked after by The Merchants and Drovers Tavern Museum Association. Throughout most of the 2000s, the Tavern underwent significant restoration efforts. In September 2021, the Museum announced on its website that the second phase of the Restoring Our Legacy Campaign has been completed and Phase III is underway. Phase II saw the restoration of the second, third, and fourth floors of the building as well as the front facade. The tavern is adjacent to the Rahway Cemetery. The Merchants and Drovers Tavern Museum Association (MDTMA) runs historic tours and talks, including on the Victorian-era murder known as The Unknown Woman or Rahway Jane Doe. In 2017, the cast of the hit paranormal reality series Ghost Hunters held a fundraiser for the museum.

Location

1632 St. Georges Ave.
Rahway, Union County, New Jersey
40.61651, -74.28556

Categories

COMMERCETRANSPORTATIONARCHITECTURE
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Rahway Theatre
Industrial
0.6 mi
Seventeenth Century Clark House
Industrial
1.3 mi
Droeschers Mill
Industrial
2.5 mi
Crane-Phillips House
Industrial
2.9 mi
De Camp, John, House
Industrial
3 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Springfield (1780)
1780Revolutionary War
3.7 mi
Battle of Springfield (NJ)
1780Revolutionary War
4.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Merchants' and Drovers' Tavern listed on the National Register?

Merchants' and Drovers' Tavern was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1978.

What type of historic resource is Merchants' and Drovers' Tavern?

Merchants' and Drovers' Tavern is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Merchants' and Drovers' Tavern?

The period of significance for Merchants' and Drovers' Tavern is recorded as the early_republic era.

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