For some time, I have been writing articles about the early taverns in Hunterdon County, knowing how important they were to both travelers on Hunterdon’s earliest roads and the communities that built up around them. One of the taverns on my to-do list was Larason’s Tavern on the Old York Road north of Ringoes. Fortunately, Dave Harding, administrator of the Hunterdon County Historical Society, did the job for me. His history of the tavern appeared in the most recent issue of the Hunterdon Historical Record (vol. 59, no.1), the Historical Society’s regular newsletter.
With Dave’s permission, I am reprinting the article here along with some footnotes and additional information at the end. This has been a real treat for us both.
Part Two of my history of the Pittstown Inn ended with the death of Moore Furman in 1808. Part three will describe the Inn’s 19th century owners and its innkeepers—quite often not the same people.
I ended part one of the Pittstown Inn when the Revolution came to an end. The Treaty of Paris was finally signed on September 3, 1783, thanks to the efforts of America’s representative at the negotiations, Benjamin Franklin.
In her excellent book All Roads Lead to Pittstown (2015),1 Stephanie Stevens called attention to the early roads that converged on the village of Pittstown. Roads were certainly important, but just as important were creeks in creating the locations of Hunterdon villages.
There was a time when the sleepy little village of Quakertown was a lively place, back when it had two taverns. I learned this from Egbert T. Bush, who wrote a couple articles about the village.
This is an article by Egbert T. Bush about the village of Cherryville in Franklin Township, Hunterdon County. It serves as a follow-up to my article on the earliest owners of the Cherryville Tavern, back when the village was known as Anderson Town, after the early tavern owner, James Anderson.
Thomas and Samuel McPherson seem to have arrived in Hunterdon County at about the same time, in the mid 18th century. It is quite likely they were related, but I found no proof, and am therefore playing it safe and publishing their trees separately here. Thomas’ family comes after Samuel’s.
This tree has been compiled to accompany my article on the Anderson tavern at Cherryville (“James Anderson’s Tavern”). It seems to have more holes than my usual trees. I had hoped to publish another Anderson Tree in conjunction with this one, for an entirely different Anderson family—the one connected with John Anderson, who ran a tavern near Ringoes (“Anderson’s Tavern”). But that one has even more holes in it and is not ready for publication.
This article will be followed by one written by Egbert T. Bush titled “Cherryville, Once Called Dogtown, Has Long History.” He knew the Cherryville Tavern was an old tavern, but could only get back as far as Reuben McPherson, who owned it from 1827 until his death in 1831.
or “Peter Cherry’s Inn”
on the Klinesville-Cherryville Road,
in Raritan Township
“Point Tavern” is surely one of the oddest names for a tavern. When Egbert T. Bush wrote his article, Klinesville Once Had A Tavern, he pointed out (sorry) that
. . it was a place of note in its day, and reference was made to the old “Pint Tavern” and to some of the doings there, long after it had fallen into disuse. The name is said to have been given because of its location on the point. But everybody called it the “Pint Tavern,” and as such it is remembered.
