General Wayne Inn
About this property
The General Wayne Inn is a former tavern and, since 2005, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located at 625 Montgomery Avenue in Merion Station, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Established as a tavern in 1704, it was previously named the William Penn Inn, Wayside Inn, Tunis Ordinary, and Streepers Tavern before being renamed in 1793 in honor of American Revolutionary War hero General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, who had once stayed there. The Inn later gained fame for rumors of being "haunted". Executive chef James Edwin “Jim” Webb and his business partner Guy Angelo Sileo Jr. bought the General Wayne in 1995. Webb was found murdered there in his office on December 27, 1996. Felicia Moyse, a 20-year-old assistant chef at the inn and Sileo's girlfriend, committed suicide on February 22, 1997. Moyse had been an alibi witness for Sileo. On the night of the murder, she and Sileo left the General Wayne at the same time, driving to dinner in their separate vehicles. Sileo doubled back, killed Webb using a .25 Beretta Model 20 pistol later linked to him by forensic evidence, then rushed to arrive at dinner before Moyse. Police believe that Moyse realized her boyfriend had set her up as his alibi and was unable to live with it. Police proved that Sileo had killed Webb in order to receive the $650,000 (equivalent to $1,334,000 in 2025) life insurance money from their partnership policies, before Webb could end their partnership and shut down the General Wayne. Sileo was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison. In 2005, the building was purchased and renovated as Chabad of the Main Line, an Orthodox Jewish congregation that practices in the Chabad-Lubavitch rite. Located on the Philadelphia Main Line, the congregation converted the former tavern into a synagogue and community center. The rumors that the Inn was haunted were explored on the TV series Unsolved Mysteries in the segment "The Unexplained: The General Wayne Inn". The murder which occurred at the Inn was the subject of "Murder on the Menu", an episode of the TV series Forensic Files. Lake, Matt (2005). "Hessian Mercenaries Haunt General Wayne Inn". Weird Pennsylvania: Your Travel Guide to Pennsylvania's Local Legends and Best-Kept Secrets. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-1-4027-3279-9. Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-144, "General Anthony Wayne Inn, 625 Montgomery Avenue, Narberth, Montgomery County, PA", 1 photo, supplemental material
Location
Categories
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.
Everything a full report reveals about General Wayne Inn
This page lists General Wayne Inn. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was General Wayne Inn listed on the National Register?
General Wayne Inn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 1, 1976.
What type of historic resource is General Wayne Inn?
General Wayne Inn is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for General Wayne Inn?
The period of significance for General Wayne Inn is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near General Wayne Inn?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near General Wayne Inn will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Montgomery County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Montgomery County.
Explore MontgomeryCounty ›More historic places in Pennsylvania
Browse all historic places in Pennsylvania.
View Pennsylvaniahistoric sites ›Pennsylvania history
Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.
Pennsylvaniahistory ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near General Wayne Inn will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.