The former White Swan tavern site was eventually home to Watt & Shand department store - and now, the Marriott hotel and Lancaster County Convention Center.
The Fountain Inn stood on South Queen Street.
At the dawn of the American Revolution, there was one licensed tavern for every 90 men, women and children living in Lancaster City.
Only one other trade was so well-represented: shoemaking.
"The 18th century was a pretty bawdy era," says Robert K. Weber, director of library services for LancasterHistory.org (formerly the Lancaster County Historical Society).
"Alcohol was heavily consumed by most people, including (teens)."
For example, Weber's personal hero, John Adams, knocked back a glass of cider with breakfast every morning.
At the time, Weber says, many people considered water fit only for barnyard animals, while the fermentation process made alcohol "safe" to drink.
And drink early Americans did — especially at local taverns, which were more like community centers than mere bars.
On Friday evening, June 12, Weber will lead a walking tour of eight 18th-century tavern sites within a four-square-block area of downtown Lancaster.
Weber will weave other aspects of Colonial life, from commerce to culture, into the two-hour tour.
"I'm not just focusing on drinking, carousing and gambling," he says. "But that's some of the more entertaining parts of (the tour)."
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Eighteenth-century Lancaster had three types of public buildings: churches, the courthouse and taverns.
"You can imagine which was the most popular," Weber says.
Around the Revolution, Lancaster's population numbered about 3,000, he says. Records show at least 30 licensed taverns operating in the city at the time.
Taverns were vital to community life, Weber says, and most were run by the wealthy and politically connected.
Taverns offered food and lodging — with prices set by local courts — and much more, including vendors peddling services from blood-letting to silversmithing.
"Elections and campaigns were often held at taverns," Weber says. "They often served as post offices. There were one of the few places you could get a newspaper."
Weber came up with the idea for the tour last summer, soon after starting his new job at the historical society.
"The 18th century is an area of great fascination for me," says Weber, who is part of a Revolutionary-era re-enactors' group.
"I enjoy taverns ... and beer."
Weber, a Kentucky native, has worked in Colonial Williamsburg and for the Georgia Historical Society.
He led his first tavern tour last fall, gleaning his "script" from books and old historical society journals.
Such early records can be incomplete and difficult to unearth. Weber revises the tour as he makes new, more accurate discoveries.
His research has been a great way to learn more about his new town.
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Weber was disappointed to find only one 18th-century tavern still standing.
That would be the former East King Street tavern that once went by the moniker "William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham." It is now the Demuth House, purchased by the artist's family in 1840.
A local blacksmith opened the tavern around 1760, Weber says. A tavern sign, painted around 1808 by none other than Jacob Eichholtz, now resides at the Landis Valley Museum.
Eichholtz's own family ran a tavern, The Bull's Head, at the corner of East King and Christian streets, Weber says.
"The best I could tell, Jacob Eichholtz probably grew up in a tavern," he says.
Weber's tour begins at the Lancaster Dispensing Co., site of the old Grape Hotel. The original Grape, owned by Revolutionary War hero Adam Reighart, was a prominent meeting place for local rebels.
The tavern later moved to the building next door (now DipCo), which was frequented by James Buchanan.
Many taverns, including the Fountain Inn and Cross Keys Hotel, were concentrated near the old courthouse, which sat right in the middle of the square.
The former Buch Tavern (later the Leopard, Weber and King Douglas) was located across from the Demuth House, at the end of the Lancaster/Philadelphia turnpike, providing a good spot for refreshment after a dusty wagon ride.
The site of the former Golden Eagle, at East King and Lime streets, is now a Chinese takeout restaurant of the same name.
Presidents George Washington and John Adams overnighted at the former White Swan, on the site of the new convention center.
The tour ends at The Bull's Head, located near what is now Annie Bailey's Irish Pub.
Surely your 18th century ancestors would approve if you stop in for a drink.
Walking Tour
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