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The Old 76 House
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The Old 76 House, August 2007
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| Location: | 110 Main St, Tappan, New York |
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| Part of: | Tappan Historic District |
| NRHP Reference#: | 90000689[1] |
The 76 House was built with the founding of Tappan in 1686 and was expanded by the Mabie family to include additional tavern space in 1755. The earliest town meetings where held in this Dutch tavern and it remains the oldest example of Dutch public architecture in America. The earliest town records were kept at the tavern and describe the meetings of the town elders, their appropriations for food, ale and savories as well well as other services provided by the innkeepers: the Mabie family. Being naturally predisposed to separating from the English, these Dutch town elders were among the first to forge their ideas of revolution in a document which was called the Orangetown Resolutions. This document was drafted and signed in the front dining room of the tavern and the original space is maintained in the same fashion it was on July 4 of 1774 when this important local declaration of independence was penned. As the war continued and Fort Lee and New York defined the English might of the Hudson Valley and the chain and forts at West Point defined the Revolutionary stronghold, the town of Tappan and the 76 house in specific became the front line of the war of independence. This precipitated George Washington and his first corp of the continental army to use the 76 House and the town of Tappan for a significant amount of time and during the year 1780 a number of important events involved the 76 house and our revolutionary founders. The British spy major John André, having been caught north of Tarrytown with Benedict Arnold's plans of West Point and brought to face Washington was imprisoned in the tavern and eventually executed as a spy. This broke tradition and undermined the social structure of the colonies as Major Andre became amongst the first aristocrats executed by colonists and in a very real way defined a war that began about taxation (economics) into a war defined by a call to equality (equal treatment for an equal crime). The 76 also was witness to America's fitful christening as, in Tappan, Washington met with Carlson and received plans of the British evacuation and the official recognition of America as an independent nation on April 19, 1783- our real independence day. The 76 House remains the last Colonial Tavern providing service to travelers in the exact same unaltered structure for over 325 years. The '76 House is one of America's oldest taverns. It is located on 110 Main St, Tappan, New York. Casparus Mabie, a cousin of the Loyalist Maybees, built the '76 House, then known as "Mabie's Inn", as the home of Yoast Mabie in 1755. The Orangetown Resolutions were adopted there on July 4th, 1774, exactly two years prior to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
The '76 House was often used during the American Revolutionary War. Through its long use as a meeting place for patriots, the '76 House established itself as safe ground for Americans in the midst of the revolution, and also served as the "prison" of the Revolution's most notorious spy (as denoted by the site's historical marker), Major John André.
The '76 House, although often referred to as "André's Prison", was not a real prison, nor was it used as a place of incarceration for anyone before or since.
In 1800, the '76 House became a tavern and has been a place of shelter for tired travelers for more than two hundred years. It has accommodated, on various occasions, every General of the west wing of the Continental Army, including Commander-in-Chief General George Washington.
It is a contributing property to the Tappan Historic District.[2]