LET THESE WALLS TALK

SAVE CITY TAVERN – A NATIONAL TREASURE

In 1796, Georgetown was already nearly half a century old and a bustling port town. Up the hill from the river, down the road from the Bridge crossing, a stately four-story brick building was erected to become a pillar of the growing community.

Its bricks bear the prints of the enslaved and immigrant workers whose labors made it stand. Its elegant rooms have hosted the leaders of the town, the colony, and a nation. From its portico, the rise and fall of the tobacco trade, the celebrations of a new nation, and the inhumanity of the slave markets were viewed.

In its tavern, laughs and cheers and money changed hands for generations.

In the 1960s, an association of Georgetown residents saved the then run-down building from demolition, restored, and maintained it. The City Tavern is now the last functioning federal-era tavern in the District of Columbia and one of its oldest commercial buildings. But it may be on its last leg.

It survived the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the Great Recession, but it may not have survived COVID.

The Tavern Association, after over 60 years of good stewardship, has not been able to overcome the financial losses incurred during the pandemic-era reduced demand for event and dining space.

Where is Georgetown’s history? In your hands.

The non-profit City Tavern Preservation Foundation, established in 2000, intends to purchase the historic building, maintain it, and make it a resource for the community, the city, and the nation with your help.

Please be generous with your tax-deductible donations.