Visit our Thompson, Connecticut, USA (North Grosvenordale) (Quinebaug) (Fabyan) (Mechanicsville) page!
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.
The Vernon Stiles Tavern, Thompson, Conn.
"...Built in 1814 by Stephen Tefft, Dr. James Webb, Noadiah Comins, and Hezekiah Olney, the inn began as one of many public houses in the area. After Captain Vernon Stiles purchased it in 1830, it became Stiles Tavern and quickly gained popularity, boasting that 'more stage passengers dined there every day than at any other house in New England.'
In addition to its fame as an inn, Stiles Tavern also became known as a wedding facility. Couples who disliked their state’s requirements for publishing their intentions to marry fled to Connecticut. There, Captain Stiles, also a Justice of the Peace, wed them in his tavern. The unions of these run-aways earned Stiles Tavern the celebrated reputation as the 'Gretna Green of New England.'
When the temperance movement arose in the mid-1830s, Captain Stiles disposed of his liquor, transforming his tavern into a temperance house. After Captain Stiles, several innkeepers owned and managed the inn over the years. Eventually changing from a tavern to a restaurant, the building took on different titles, such as the Vernon Stiles Inn, the White Horse Inn at Vernon Stiles, and simply the White Horse Inn..." wikipedia
Postcard
Posted in the Past: Revealing the true stories written on a postcard
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.
The Vernon Stiles Tavern, Thompson, Conn.
"...Built in 1814 by Stephen Tefft, Dr. James Webb, Noadiah Comins, and Hezekiah Olney, the inn began as one of many public houses in the area. After Captain Vernon Stiles purchased it in 1830, it became Stiles Tavern and quickly gained popularity, boasting that 'more stage passengers dined there every day than at any other house in New England.'
In addition to its fame as an inn, Stiles Tavern also became known as a wedding facility. Couples who disliked their state’s requirements for publishing their intentions to marry fled to Connecticut. There, Captain Stiles, also a Justice of the Peace, wed them in his tavern. The unions of these run-aways earned Stiles Tavern the celebrated reputation as the 'Gretna Green of New England.'
When the temperance movement arose in the mid-1830s, Captain Stiles disposed of his liquor, transforming his tavern into a temperance house. After Captain Stiles, several innkeepers owned and managed the inn over the years. Eventually changing from a tavern to a restaurant, the building took on different titles, such as the Vernon Stiles Inn, the White Horse Inn at Vernon Stiles, and simply the White Horse Inn..." wikipedia
Postcard
Posted in the Past: Revealing the true stories written on a postcard
 (Quinebaug) (Fabyan) (Mechanicsville) - The Vernon Stiles Tavern, Thompson, Conn.
"...Built in 1814 by Stephen Tefft, Dr. James Webb, Noadiah Comins, and Hezekiah Olney, the inn began as one of many public houses in the area. After Captain Vernon Stiles purchased it in 1830, it became Stiles Tavern and quickly gained popularity, boasting that 'more stage passengers dined there every day than at any other house in New England.'
In addition to its fame as an inn, Stiles Tavern also became known as a wedding facility. Couples who disliked their state’s requirements for publishing their intentions to marry fled to Connecticut. There, Captain Stiles, also a Justice of the Peace, wed them in his tavern. The unions of these run-aways earned Stiles Tavern the celebrated reputation as the 'Gretna Green of New England.'
When the temperance movement arose in the mid-1830s, Captain Stiles disposed of his liquor, transforming his tavern into a temperance house. After Captain Stiles, several innkeepers owned and managed the inn over the years. Eventually changing from a tavern to a restaurant, the building took on different titles, such as the Vernon Stiles Inn, the White Horse Inn at Vernon Stiles, and simply the White Horse Inn..." wikipedia){kind=small}