Series I · September 13, 2025
A five-stop chapter through historic Massachusetts taverns, from Sturbridge and West Brookfield to Sudbury, Concord, and Charlestown.
Route dossier
Stop 01
Publick House
277 Main St, Sturbridge, MA 01566
Constructed by Colonel Ebenezer Crafts and established on the eve of the American Revolution, the Publick House Historic Inn hosted both the Marquis de Lafayette and his son, Georges Washington de Lafayette, when the two famously toured the nation during the 1820s.
Open in Google Maps
Stop 02
Hitchcock Tavern
7 MA-9, West Brookfield, MA 01585
A patriot later commissioned by Governor John Hancock, this tavern was built by Captain David Hitchcock in 1760. Notable guests include George Washington, who dined there on October 22, 1789 during his New England tour; John Adams, who mentioned staying there in a 1796 letter to Abigail; and, by tradition, the Marquis de Lafayette in 1824 and Daniel Shays before Shays’ Rebellion.
Open in Google Maps
Stop 03
Longfellow’s Wayside Inn
72 Wayside Inn Rd, Sudbury, MA 01776
Established in 1716 when David Howe was licensed to keep “a house of entertainment for travelers” on the Old Boston Post Road — making it among the oldest operating inns in the country. Known first as Howe’s Tavern, it was renamed the Red Horse Tavern in 1746 under Ezekiel Howe, who led Sudbury militia to Concord in April 1775.
Open in Google Maps
Stop 04
Concord’s Colonial Inn
48 Monument Square, Concord, MA 01742
The original structure was built in 1716 by James Minot. During the Revolution, part of the building stored arms and provisions for the Concord Minutemen, and after the April 19, 1775 fighting, Dr. Timothy Minot treated wounded soldiers in a makeshift operating room there.
Open in Google Maps
Stop 05
Warren Tavern
2 Pleasant St, Charlestown, MA 02129
Built in 1780, it was among the first structures raised after the British burned Charlestown in 1775, and was named for Dr. Joseph Warren, the patriot leader killed at Bunker Hill. Early patrons reportedly included Paul Revere, George Washington, and other Revolutionary figures.
Open in Google Maps
Crawl commencement ceremony
Massachusetts / Series I · September 13, 2025
On this most notable Lord’s Day, the Thirteenth of September in the year Two Thousand and Twenty-Five, we here gather, not with sword nor musket, but with stout hearts and thirstful spirits, to embark upon the most honorable of all crawls: the Colonial Crawl.
Where tankards once did overflow and freedom first whispered—let those who still favor tyranny know… that the crawlers are coming, not by sea but by one tavern in turn.
This series two shall be as resounding as that first shot heard around the world. Let not fear of doubt bar our course, for it is by the providence of fermentation we shall prevail.
So, raise high thy glass, ye sons and daughters of liberty! For tonight, the spirit of 1776 shall echo once more… both in bottle and in breath. Now, let’s go forth… stamp our place in history… and crawl till ye fall.
— The Colonial Crawlers
From the crawl
A photo ledger from Series I — tavern signs, group stops, historic rooms, and the red-shirted route through Massachusetts.
