Taverns & Inns

The following information was gathered from the History of  Salisbury by John Dearborn, 1890.

Historic Salisbury Houses by Paul Shaw and Salisbury Lost by Paul Shaw.

Locations:

South Road Village. Before 1767-1892  “Crossroads” Junction of Rte 4 & Rte 127, including section of Rte 4 & Old Coach Rd. 

Smith’s Corner, abt 1762 or 1766.  Floodplain, junction of Mill Rd. and Warner Rd.

Center Village,   Salisbury Heights Rte 4, Loverin Hill Road, Whittemore Rd at Center Rangeway

Mill Village, 1891-1946,  West Salisbury along the Blackwater River

Whittemore Rd,  Just off the Center Rangeway (Center Road) and on Whittemore Rd. 

Raccoon Hill, Sanborn’s Clearing specifically

SOUTH ROAD VILLAGE

  • Before 1767– 1894 South Road Village,  Pettengill Tavern opposite Academy Hall.  Likely the first tavern and site of town meetings. The gray house is opposite Academy Hall. Rte 4 & Old Coach Road. Please note: Unclear if this establishment was just a tavern or a tavern & inn combination.
  • Abt 1795-1892 South Road Village, Rogers Tavern, Elm House or Temperance House. Located diagonally across from the Crossroads Store junction of Rte 4 and Rte 127.  In 1795, Josiah Rogers purchased the Stephen Webster home and added a one-story addition extending eastward, and ran a tavern. It became a stage stop along the new Fourth NH Turnpike (abt 1804). This tavern is well researched, and the information is in the History of Salisbury by John Dearborn, 1890,  p 349 -350. Destroyed by fire in 1882.Photos: Salisbury Lost by Paul S. Shaw

    The original configuration of the junction of Rte 4 with the South Range Road (Rte 127 in this location) and Mutton Road once opened through to Boscawen. Shown is the large Inn, to the right is the house existing today at the NE corner of the crossroads, foreground is Greenleaf’s Store, later Hill’s Store, then Red Store Tea Room. Disassembled.
  • Pre-1894 South Road Village “Kearsarge Cottage”  was a three-story summer boarding house of Amos Chapman and was located opposite the Congregational Church. It was lost to a fire in 1894. No photo found.

CENTER RANGEWAY AREA & CENTER VILLAGE

  • 1786-Whittemore Rd, Ensign Moses Garland House. Rendezvous on occasions for regimental musters, which he led in the acreage across from the house.
  • 1794 Center Village, Rte 4 Turnpike,  Salisbury Heights, Abel Elkins Tavern just slightly next door or actually in the Elkins house, unclear.First taken at the Heights.
  • Deacon Amos Pettengill, the second hotel erected at the Heights, shortly after. A lot of Daniel Searle.
  • After 1804, Center Village, Rte 4 Turnpike, Salisbury Heights, date approximate,  Amos Pettengill ran a tavern or inn just north of Oak Hill Rd on the Rte 4 Turnpike
  • 1816-after abt 1877 Center Village, Rte 4 Turnpike & West Salisbury Road and Rte 4,  Bell Tavern or Travellers Home as it was later called. The house was built by Reuben True, son-in-law to Josiah Bartlett, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and was purchased by Benjamin Pettengill, altered and renovated into a large inn. It continued until sometime after 1877.  Hundreds of horses would be stabled there, and the house was full of guests. Photos: Historic Salisbury Houses by Paul S. Shaw, date unknown

  • 1898-1915 and perhaps longer, Center Village, next to the Abel Elkins House.   Drew’s Store, Frank Drew, the owner during this time, operated a store, a post office, and an Inn. Lost to a fire in abt 1925-1930. Photo: Salisbury Lost by Paul S. Shaw

  • Early 1900s-1934? Loverin Hill, located at the David Pettengill House, was built in 1760. The inn was run by the owner Leander Sawyer and was a well-known place for summer boarders.

SMITH’S CORNER

  • After abt 1762 or 1766-  Smith’s Corner closer to the junction of Little Hill Rd and Warner Rd (South Rangeway), Phineas Bean Tavern/Inn?  Date unknown. Mention of this is found in the History of Salisbury under the genealogy section for the Bean family, p 469. The Inn, however, is not mentioned again, so there is some confusion. Sinker Bean moved to Salisbury abt 1762-66, and his son Phineas was in his early 20s when they settled.  Today, it may seem like an unlikely location for a tavern as the entire area is abandoned in the flood plain, but it wasn’t always so. The South and Center Rangeways were a main connection between Salisbury to Warner, and Sutton. A small village existed at Smith’s Corners for about 60 years.  The tavern was just west of McAlisters (cellar hole) on the  South Rangeway near the junction with Little Hill Rd (opposite) and westerly. No photos found.

MILL VILLAGE

  • After 1891-1946,  Mill Village, Riverside Inn. For several years, it was a popular spot for summer boarders. Later, workers from the mill boarded there. Photos: Historic Salisbury Houses by Paul S. Shaw, photos date unknown
  • Abt 1997-2003, Raccoon Hill Sanborn’s Clearing,  Horse Haven Bed & Breakfast. Built in 1818-1825, the house was used as a Bed & Breakfast in recent times until it was destroyed by fire in 2003. Photos: Salisbury Lost by Paul S. Shaw, photos date unknown
  • 1945-1951 An Inn that almost happened. Whittemore House, “Salisbury Manor,” built abt 1830.   Owned by Russell and Leona Dunkerly, who remodeled the home extensively and were planning a guest home and possibly a restaurant at the time of the fire. Lost. Photo: Historic Salisbury Lost by Paul S. Shaw, photos date unknown