Bucks Lehigh Valley Historic Tavern Trail

I've mentioned Moland House at several of our America250 meetups this year, so we're going to actually visit the historic central Bucks County site at this meetup. A farmhouse dating to the 1750s, Moland House was the site of the Continental Army's Neshaminy Encampment in August of 1777. Washington and his troops spent 13 days here, from Aug. 10-23, training and mustering in the lead up to the Battle of Brandywine.

The Neshaminy Encampment was famously where the Marquis de Lafayette was commissioned an officer in the Continental Army. Lafayette was then wounded at Brandywine and recuperated in Bethlehem. Polish officer Count Casimir Pulaski also met Washington here in August 1777.

We'll have a guided tour of Moland House and see the restored Washington's headquarters. The tour costs $7 per person. There will also be demonstrations of open hearth cooking and wood shops. The Moland House is only open on the second and fourth Sundays of the month, so yes, we are meeting on a Sunday.

Following the tour, we'll head down the road to Mike's York Road Tavern, which has been serving weary travelers since 1730. Join us for either or both parts of the day. If you just want to go to the restaurant, we'll be there at 3:30 for late lunch or early dinner.

See you there!

Our America250 celebration will next take us to the NW corner of Bucks County for drinks and lunch at the Jamison Publick House in Geryville, Milford Township.

This is the current incarnation of the Geryville Publick House, a tavern licensed by the English King George II in 1745, just 10 years after the establishment of a road to connect Philadelphia with southern Lehigh County. Michael Horlacher was the original proprietor.

In 1799, the tavern was one of several local establishments that was a hotbed of activity during the Fries (pronounced like freeze) Rebellion. Its owner at the time, Conrad Marks, was one of the leaders of the rebellion, along with local auctioneer John Fries. Local leaders met here frequently in 1798 and 1799 to plan their opposition to the new federal property tax. Fries led a group of rebels from Marks' tavern in March 1799 to free their fellow rebels being held prisoner at the Sun Tavern in Bethlehem.

While the tavern is best known for its connection to the Fries Rebellion, it likely played a role during the Revolutionary War as well. Marks, who obtained the license for the tavern in 1796 was a Revolutionary War veteran. The Lower Milford Associators, under the command of Captain Henry Huber, would have been the Revolutionary War era militia in this area. We'll look at what contribution Marks and Huber's militia made during the rebellion and how the Geryville Publick House might have figured in that history.

Today, the Jamison Publick House is owned by Mark and Angel Jamison, who also own the Limeport Inn and Sumneytown Hotel. They're known for both the high quality of their food and for the warm ambience of their restaurants' historic spaces.

Lunch at 1 p.m., sorry they do not allow parties larger than 12. For that reason, I am once again charging a fee for this meetup to discourage late cancels and no-shows. Fees collected will pay for a shared appetizer course, which you can vote on when you sign up. Optional drink at the bar at 12:30.

See you there!