“There
can't be good living where there is not good
drinking.”
- Benjamin Franklin
Though commissioned by fifty-three of
Philadelphia’s most notable and prosperous
citizens in 1772, one might make the case that
the legendary CITY TAVERN
had its roots in the somewhat less august
setting of Nicholas Scull’s public house on a
Friday evening in 1727. It was here that
Benjamin Franklin conducted the first meeting of
the Junto. The party of twelve intellectual,
inquisitive and inspired, civil minded gentlemen
that would lay the foundation of this New
Jerusalem in the New World.
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In addition to their loftier theoretical
and cultural endeavors the Junto concerned
itself mainly with the wellbeing of Philadelphia
and its inhabitants. They proposed and helped to
enact policies that promoted education, domestic
security, public health and city planning.
Without the work of this spirited brain trust
Philadelphia would not have established itself
as the commercial, social and political center
of the American colonies. Through the efforts
and labors of Franklin and the Junto,
Philadelphians were led to a better way of life,
and ultimately to a better place to drink.
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UP THE STAIRS
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SHAWN AT THE DESK IN
THE FOYER
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Historians may argue the value of
individual contributions, or the degree of
influence each of the founding fathers had on
the American cause; bur none could argue the
fact that whenever the founders of the new
republic were in Philadelphia they found their
way to the CITY TAVERN. |
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For a brief period prior to the British
occupation in 1777, the CITY TAVERN
served as Washington’s military headquarters.
Delegates to the first and second Continental
Congress partied, planned and pow-wowed in the
lavish banquet rooms and quiet corners of the
barroom. John Adams, who described the
establishment as “the most genteel tavern in
America,” would often share a repast there with
Thomas Jefferson. And of course the convivial
Doctor Franklin would hold court in his favorite
dining room on a regular basis. For a young
nation that had yet to establish an official
place from which to govern, here in this elegant
colonial edifice was the equivalent of the White
House, Pentagon and Capitol Hill. |
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MAGDY
PROPOSES A TOAST IN THE BARROOM
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THE
BACK PORCH IS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL
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In 1854 the tavern was demolished as a
result of economic obsolescence and structural
damage caused by a fire some years earlier. The
grand house that had provided shelter, solace
and sustenance to those extraordinary souls that
had designed and prosecuted the most brilliant
revolution in the history of mankind was quickly
forgotten.
Perhaps the costly struggle to preserve liberty
and democratic ideals during the Second World
War drove home the need to preserve and protect
our own historic past; because in 1948 the
Congress voted to establish Independence
National Historical Park. This authorization
allowed the site of the former CITY TAVERN
to be acquired as part of that park. And after
twenty seven years of painstaking research a
precise recreation of that most genteel of
American taverns rose again in Philadelphia. |
YARDS
BREWERY BREWS AUTHENTIC BEERS
FROM 18th
CENTURY RECIPES FOR CITY TAVERN
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THE
ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN THE
RECONSTRUCTION IS EXTRAORDINARY
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I for one tend to be a bit leery and
circumspect of our attempts to re-enact and
reconstruct the past; but in this instance I
declare a total exception. It might just be the
passion, devotion and resolute commitment to
care that the proprietor, Walter Staib
and his staff attach to their stewardship, or
just maybe there is some metaphysical
transcendence occurring here. Whatever the case
- the spirit and spirits of 76 continue on at
the CITY TAVERN!
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MARQUITA SMITH ADDS SOME
COLONIAL GRACE AND BEAUTY TO THE LAVISH
DINING ROOM
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