You are invited to take an on-line tour of Gadsby's Tavern Museum.

For information on visiting the museum, please visit our Tours page.

Gadsby's Tavern Museum

Gadsby's Tavern Museum consists of two 18th century buildings. The smaller building was constructed around 1785 and the larger structure was built in 1792. Unlike many taverns of this period which were often converted from private homes, both of these buildings were built to serve the public.

The tavern buildings are located in the heart of "Old Town" Alexandria, a seaport town that was established in 1749 along the banks of the Potomac River. Used as an inspection point and trade center for tobacco grown in the neighboring farming communities of northern Virginia and southern Maryland, Alexandria quickly flourished.

Taverns were a convenient meeting place for merchants, farmers and tradesmen. While many taverns existed in 18th century Alexandria, few remain today. The buildings of Gadsby's Tavern Museum, the ca. 1785 Georgian-style tavern and the 1792 Federal-style City Tavern & Hotel, have been carefully preserved and actively interpret tavern life. While both buildings were built by Alexandria real-estate investor John Wise, it is prominent tavern keeper John Gadsby, who operated the buildings from 1796 to 1808, that they are named for.

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