The recent postings just point to the complexity in dealing with the
subject of "taverns".  From what I've seen several different terms for
these establishments were used interchangeably, most often inn or tavern
here in the Middle Atlantic, although a bit further south the term
"ordinary" was used as well, I believe.  Ned's right about the importance
of providing accomodations for horses as well as for travelers. Some, like
the King of Prussia Inn that we've studied, had their own blacksmiths (or
farriers) as well. Many of these places catered to a whole range of
customers, including drovers, the coach trade, not to mention the locals,
providing food, drink, and sleeping accomodations of one sort or another.
By the 19th century, the King of Prussia was also serving as an informal
town hall. Along the lines of what Cathy Spude was talking about earlier,
the KOP was renamed the King of Prussia Hotel in the late 1860s, probably
because the temperance movement had rendered the term "inn" somewhat less
than respectable. By the 1920s, it was once more known as the KOP Inn,
probably because "inn" exuded that quaint, old-timey feel that the motoring
public was seeking out.


Richard M. Affleck, RPA
Senior Archaeologist
URS Corporation
561 Cedar Lane
Florence, NJ  08516
609-499-3447