Today is George Washington's 280th birthday. To celebrate we are making the Fraunces Tavern in New York the Bar Of The Week. The tavern was once a meeting spot for General Washington and his officers during the Revolutionary War. In fact, the above image is from the famous painting Washington's farewell to his officers by Alonzo Chappel. The tavern still stands today and proudly serves Narragansett beer. We are honored to be one of several beers served at such a historic tavern in American history. Stop in today and have a Gansett in honor of George Washington's birthday. Here's the full history of the Fraunces Tavern from their website FrauncesTavernMuseum.org:
| Fraunces Tavern was originally built as a house for Oliver de Lancey, a member of the prominent Delancey family that contended with the Livingstons for leadership in colonial New York. The Delanceys sold the house to Samuel Fraunces, who operated it as a tavern. Much of the Revolutionary history of New York revolved around Fraunces Tavern. It was one of the meeting places of the Sons of Liberty in the pre-war years. During the tea crisis of 1765, a British captain who tried to bring tea into New York was forced to give an apology to the public at Fraunces Tavern. The patriots, dressed as Indians as had the participants in the earlier Tea Party in Boston, then dumped his tea into the harbor. In August of 1775, Americans took possession of cannons from the Battery at the tip of Manhattan and exchanged fire with a boatload of British soldiers. They retaliated by firing a 32-gun broadside on the city, sending a cannon ball through the roof of Fraunces Tavern. |