Old Willow Tree Tavern at Clarksburg

Periodca. 1850

MediumPastel on thin board

Dimensions10 × 14.2 in. (25.4 × 36.1 cm)

SignedScratched into the pastel along the bottom edge and illegible in part, "Hendrickson / Sketched by Hendrickson Painted by G. T. Blanche / PGT Blanche."

ClassificationsLandscapes & Still Life

Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1935

Object number818

DescriptionLandscape view of a seven bay, two story structure on a high basement with two end chimneys, gray roof, a recessed entrance fronted by a flight of stairs, two bays on the side elevation, quarter round windows in the gable end, and a leanto shed to the right with a green painted door. A pump stands to the right of the structure, which is surrounded by seven Lombardi poplar trees. An outbuilding with one door and two windows appears to the left of the tavern, in part surrounded by a white board fence. Two willow trees mark the left and right edges of the work, and four bushes appear along the right bottom corner. More fence and tree lines can be seen behind the tavern.
NotesThe Old Willow Tree Tavern stood at the corner of Stagecoach Road (Route 524) and Rising Sun Tavern Road in the village of Clarksburg, Millstone Township, Monmouth County. In 1922, one history relates that "Near the village stood the Willow Tree Tavern, a well known hostelry in the early part of the last century. Mention of it is found under date of January, 1815, as 'owned by Aaron Eldridge, formerly by Hartshome Tantum, the inn being situated on the main road from Philadelphia to Long Branch, eight miles from Allentown and twelve from Monmouth Court House' From 1829-34 it was conducted by Peter Johnson and William Hankins, when it was discontinued as a tavern and the Clarksburg Hotel was built." Another 1939 description states "high above the road level, is the rotting frame of Willow Tree Tavern, built in 1781 and until recently used as a residence. Of rigidly plain lines with a recessed porch, the tavern was a stopping place in its early years for the four-horse coach between Philadelphia and Long Branch. The lower floor, then unpartitioned, served as a communal bedroom for men, women travelers being assigned to rooms upstairs. Joseph Bonaparte, with a retinue of French servants, was a guest. Old residents still relate that Bonaparte required his servants to taste every dish set before him, so afraid was he of being poisoned. Formerly, on winter days farmers of the neighborhood hitched their fastest horses to sleighs and raced to Allentown, where the last man in paid for drinks. Then fortified for a second heat, they raced back to the old Willow Tree, where the loser treated again. Thus the years passed until 1865, when the tavern was renamed the Temperance House. Shortly afterward, it entered upon a decline that ended with its sale in 1878 for use as a private home. Hand-made bricks between the studs are revealed where clapboards have been loosened. The interior, musty with the litter left by its last occupants, still has a corner cupboard, a boarded-over fireplace with a simply cut mantel, and a few hinges and other early hardware. Floors sag, and several layers of wallpaper are peeling away. Anyone who enters may play Stealing, the last record left, on a cabinet-size phonograph that stands by the fireplace where Benjamin Franklin once warmed his hands." For many years after its destruction, the foundations remained visible. A modern house has recently been erected on the tavern's site.

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