Viets' Tavern

Viets' Tavern
Location Newgate Rd., East Granby, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°57′43″N 72°44′42″W / 41.96194°N 72.74500°WCoordinates: 41°57′43″N 72°44′42″W / 41.96194°N 72.74500°W
Area 2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built 1763
Governing body Private
NRHP Reference # 72001338[1]
Added to NRHP February 23, 1972

Viets' Tavern is an 18th-century tavern on Newgate Road, directly across the street from the Old Newgate Prison State Historical Site in East Granby, Connecticut.

The date of the construction of this building is not known, but there are multiple references to this tavern in historical records. In 1712, Dr. John Viets was granted a license by the town of Turkey Hills (now East Granby) to "keep a house of public entertainment." His son Jon, and his grandson Luke both had tavernkeepers licenses. The Connecticut Historical Society has a photograph of a sign at the location with the date 1790, although the sign was destroyed in a 1904 fire.[1]

The tavern was popular, not only with prison officials and visitors,[2] but also some of the convicts.[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 1972-02-23.and Accompanying exterior photos from June 1971
  2. ↑ Francis Hubbard Viets (1902). A genealogy of the Viets family with biographical sketches: Dr. John Viets of Simsbury, Connecticut, 1710, and his descendants. The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co. p. 42. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  3. ↑ Richard Harvey Phelps (1876). Newgate of Connecticut: its origins and early history. Being a full description of the famous and wonderful Simsbury mines and caverns, and the prison built over them. To which is added all the incidents, insurrections, and massacres, connected with their use as a prison for the Tories during the revolution. Also. An illustrated description of the state prison at Wethersfield. American publishing company. p. 67. Retrieved 24 October 2010.