Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: October 2000 Volume 38 Number 4, Pages 146–148

Notes and Comments

• King of Prussia Inn Moves Out
• Local Country Club Hosts National Golf Event

Page 146

King of Prussia Inn Moves Out

Looked upon as an impediment to completion of the current Route 202 highway-widening to six lanes, the landmark King of Prussia Inn was moved by PennDOT on August 20, 2000. The Inn, which had stood forsaken and inaccessible on a grassy island in the middle of the busy high­way since 1954, was moved out of the right-of-way to a new foundation some 2400 feet to the southeast on land donated by PECO Energy Co. in an Upper Merion Township park on Bill Smith Boulevard. A large crowd gathered on a sunny Sunday afternoon to view the move of the 580-ton three-story, stone building.

Eighty percent of the $1.63 million cost of moving the Inn was funded by the Federal government, with the remainder covered by PennDOT. Ownership of the building had been transferred by the state to the King of Prussia Chamber of Commerce prior to the move. Restoration of the Inn will cost another $400,000, most of it already raised by community sub­scription over the past two-and-one-half years. The updated building will house office space for the Chamber, and a museum.

The old Inn, located less than a mile east of the Tredyffrin Township border, is well known to local residents and even the most casual passerby. It had operated for about 200 years when it was closed in 1952 by an earlier highway project. Most commentators agree that the swinging sign outside, with the likeness of the King on horseback, carried the date 1709.

Page 147

However, at that early date Welsh farmers were just beginning to appear in the area, and it must have been a "howling wilderness" with little need for an inn. The first road, Swedesford Road, connecting with the Swedish settlement on the Schuylkill, was not opened until 1723, and Gulph Road, to the Welsh settlements at Merion and Haverford, opened even later.

The late Bob Goshorn wrote about the early history of the Inn in his June 1988 "Looking Back" column in the Great Valley News:

"... It opened in 1769 when William Rees Jr obtained a license to operate a tavern in his home. Rees had inherited the property from his father, also named William, on the latter's death in March of 1756. William Sr, in turn, had purchased the property, a part of the original Letitia Penn Manor, in 1719 [when he built his home]. He was a successful farmer, or yeoman, and a member of the congregation of the Baptist Church in the Great Valley. The principal crops on his farm were wheat, rye and oats, and he also had a herd of 20 sheep, four plough horses or work horses, and two saddle horses -- more livestock than the average for the period.

"William Jr enlarged the farmhouse 13 years after he inherited the farm and farmhouse, and in that same year applied for a tavern license. At about the same time he rented out the farmland to a tenant farmer. Located at the intersection of two of the principal roads of the time, the Gulph Road and the Swedes' Ford Road, it was obviously a favorable location for this type of enterprise. It has also been suggested that William Jr was not a healthy and robust man, not strong enough to be a farmer - he died in 1774 when only in his mid-50s. During the last three years of his life the tavern was operated first by a John Meredith in 1772 and 1773, and then by a James Barry, who was the inn keeper until 1780. [The site is referred to as 'Berry's' on Parker's 'spy map' showing the Valley Forge encampment prepared for invading British forces in the Revolutionary War.]

"During the encampment of the Continental army at Valley Forge, the tavern was allegedly used for meetings by General Washington and his general officers including, on occasion, General von Steuben, General Muhlenberg and Baron de Kalb. It is said that during that winter it was decided that 'out of respect to the large number of Prussian soldiers in the army' the Inn should be named after their great King (Frederick the Great, who ruled from 1740 to 1786) and it was ever afterward known as 'The King of Prussia.'...

"In 1781 the tavern license was issued to Martha Rees, the widow of William Jr, while from 1783 to 1785 the tavern was operated by a John Elliott. In 1785 he purchased the property from the widow Rees and continued it as an inn.... In 1790 Elliott enlarged the building with a three­story addition. Its dimensions at the time of the 'glass tax' survey of 1798 were 33' x 50', approximately its present size. In the early 19th century a small village grew up around the inn - a blacksmith, a wheel­wright, and took the name King of Prussia from the hostelry."

Page 148

In 1820, the first post office in the village carried the name Reesville. Nine years later it became known as Upper Merion. It was not until April 5, 1837 that King of Prussia came into being as the post office address. Bob Goshorn continues:

"Unlike his predecessor, Elliott also engaged in farming, purchasing additional land and adding to the estate [now called the King farm]. ... In 1820 he turned over the operation of both the farm and the inn to his son John, who subsequently became the owner on the death of his father 21 years later. John Jr continued as the innkeeper until 1850, after which it was run by a tenant-innkeeper, Mordecai Stephens.

"In the early 1850s the village of King of Prussia assumed even more impor­tance commercially. It was not only the western terminus of the new King of Prussia, Bridgeport and Norristown turnpike that opened in 1853, but was also on the Chester Valley Railroad that began operations between Bridgeport and Downingtown in that same year.

"When John Elliott Jr died in 1868, his estate totaled almost $35,000. Two years later, his daughter Sophia sold the inn to a Frederick Naile but he died just ten months later, perhaps of scarlet fever. The inn was then purchased by a James F. Hoy in 1871. After he died in 1878, his widow Madeline Hoy continued to operate the inn until 1906. ...

"During the early 20th century the inn had a succession of owners until 1920, when it was bought by Anne P. Heist (later Mrs. Thomas Webster), under whose care it was a popular and delightful historic dining room until 1952."

Local Country Club Hosts National Golf Event

Golf fans from around the area converged on Easttown's Waynesborough Country Club during the week of September 11-17, 2000, to view the PGA Tour golfers vie for glory and cash at the inaugural SEI Pennsylvania Classic. Tiger Woods, the World's No. 1 player, and other big golf names passed up the first PGA tournament held in Pennsylvania since 1980. But Waynesborough and Laurel Valley Golf Club (in the Pittsburgh area) will alternate as hosts of the event for the next four years.

Tournament winner Chris DiMarco garnered the victor's check of $576,000 with a six-shot victory at 14-under-par 270. After finishing second three times on the PGA Tour, the 32-year-old Floridan finally was a winner in the 158th event of his career.

Easttown police had perfected their crowd control strategy, and no real traffic tie-ups ensued. Attendees parked at Immaculata College and were transported by bus to Waynesborough. No attendance figure was reported, but some 200,000 persons were expected over the week.