MARLBOROUGH – The Williams Tavern located at the intersection of West Main Street and Williams Street was built in 1665 by Lieutenant Abraham Williams. The original building had 28 rooms plus several outbuildings, a large barn and three acres of land. The interior had many fireplaces with mantels having cheery inscriptions on them. Ten years after the tavern was opened it became a garrison and housed local soldiers as protection against the Indians.
In 1676 the tavern was burned to the ground when the Indians raided Marlborough during King Philip’s War. In 1677 Lieutenant Williams rebuilt the tavern and it was grander than the original structure. Williams kept it until his death in 1712. His son had died so it was passed to his grandson.
An interesting feature of the tavern was the cell room located in the basement. It was used to house prisoners being transported from Boston to New York. Before Marlborough became a city, part of the space of the tavern was utilized as a town courtroom and two additional brick cellar rooms were for the safekeeping of unruly offenders. It was also Marlborough’s first unofficial post office, as mail for the area of Northborough, Southborough, Westborough, and Hudson was left there to be picked up.
In 1756 George Washington visited the Williams Tavern on his way to Boston to meet with Governor Shipley about the French and Indian War. On July 2, 1775, Washington spent the night at the tavern. He was met with an honor guard and was escorted to where he took command of the American troops at the siege of Boston. On October 23, 1789, after becoming president, Washington was hosted by Captain George Williams, the third owner of the tavern (the great-grandson of Abraham Williams). The president was met by United States Marshal of the Massachusetts District Jonathan Jackson, and they dined together at the tavern.
In 1772 the first stagecoach route between Boston and New York was instituted and the tavern was designated as the Marlborough stop. This journey took 14 days.
The Williams Tavern in its earlier days had the distinction of entertaining many historical figures, including the Marquis de Lafayette during the Revolutionary War. The French Duke of Rochefoucauld is another notable who spent time there.
After George Williams died the tavern went to his daughter, Catherine and her husband, Silas Gates. In 1822 Gates took down the tavern and replaced it with an inn that was known as Gates House. The inn was passed on to his son Abraham Gates and then after Abraham’s death to his wife Elizabeth Brigham, who had her brother-in-law, Jabez Witherbee manage it. While Jabez was innkeeper stagecoaches gave the inn a prosperous income. However, it began to diminish as the railroads grew and people adopted this mode of transportation. Elizabeth, who still owned the Inn, married Deacon Stephen Phelps and after her death the inn passed to him.
When Deacon Phelps died in 1871, there was no specific mention concerning the tavern in his estate. In 1871 Walter Leighton purchased the property at auction for $4,200. During these years it was a family- run hotel. They also added a third floor, totaling the rooms to 36.
In 1884 Leighton sold the tavern to Henry Carr. Obscurity seems to have fallen over the Wiliams Tavern during the following years and the several owners who bought and sold the tavern. In 1916 Michael and Julia Williams of Boston were the owners of the tavern. They named it the Williams Inn Club. They modernized it and added a ballroom. They catered to automobile and weekend parties and ran the tavern until the early 1930s. They had great financial problems and in 1932 the Williams Inn Club went into tax title. The property was not redeemed until 1936 with new owner Joseph Jacobs.
There were several more owners and new management who attempted to revive the tavern, but the appeal of the old tavern was gone and the doors finally closed in 1938. The same year the city acquired the property for nonpayment of taxes. In 1942 at public auction, Mr. and Mrs. Augustus Seymour purchased it for $1,200. They had other property that adjoined the tavern.
The empty tavern was also damaged by vandals. Many citizens begged with the city to maintain it as a shrine, but it was leveled on April 11, 1947. The large chimney remained standing until 1969.
The front desk to the Williams Tavern is now housed at the home of the Marlborough Historical Society, the Peter Rice Homestead.
When the Williams Tavern was at its height there were few taverns in the region that surpassed it. All its proprietors catered to the traveling public and maintained the best place for rest and refreshment on the state highway. It is truly one of Marlborough’s lost treasures.