Built 1741 (1741) VLR # 072-0054 Opened 1741 Architectural style Federal architecture | NRHP Reference # 03000214 Designated VLR December 4, 2002 Area 8 ha Added to NRHP 11 April 2003 | |
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Location 2625 Old Tavern Rd., Powhatan, Virginia | ||
Mosby Tavern, also called Old Cumberland Courthouse or Littleberry Mosby House, is a National Register of Historic Places building in Powhatan County, Virginia. Located southeast of the intersection of U.S. Route 60 and State Route 629 in Powhatan County, Virginia, with a street address of 2625 Old Tavern Road, it began as a small one-room house built by Benjamin Mosby in 1740, and remains a private residence today.
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Mosby Tavern was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 2003, and a monument was dedicated at the site on June 15, 2008.
History
Originally located in Goochland County, Mosby Tavern was in the western part of the county which became Cumberland County in 1749. From the county's formation until the formation of Powhatan County in 1777, Mosby Tavern served as the Cumberland County courthouse and jail, as well as being a tavern and the private residence of the Mosby family. This, plus a popular racetrack across the road, made Mosby Tavern the center of the community. During the American Revolution the tavern also served as a rendezvous for the county militia.
For at least 100 years from its construction, Mosby Tavern was used as a private residence by the Mosby family, owned by: Benjamin Mosby, who purchased the land and constructed the original building in 1740; Colonel Littleberry Mosby Sr (also spelled "Littlebury") (17??-1809?); General Littleberry Mosby Jr (1757–1821), who was the third child, but the oldest living son at the time of his father's death, and who was so disappointed that many family members left the area that he made Littleberry III's inheritance conditional on the condition his return to Virginia; Edward Mosby, Littleberry Jr's younger brother, to whom Mosby Tavern passed when Littleberry III died in Tennessee without returning.
The tavern was also used as the Powhatan County courthouse and jail until 1779, when the county seat was moved to a newly constructed courthouse in Scottville. After 1779 Mosby Tavern generally ceased to be used for public meetings, although the stature of the Mosby family in the area meant that even without official standing their home continued to play a major role in the social life of the area.
Architecture
Mosby Tavern began as a small one-room house built by Benjamin Mosby in 1740. By the time Benjamin's grandson, Littleberry Mosby Jr, owned it in the early nineteenth century it was a one-story, hall-parlor plan frame dwelling shown on early nineteenth century insurance policies as 34' by 28'. According to tax records, the property value increased substantially in 1849 and 1859, and it is likely that most of the major additions were made during that time, expanding the house to a center hall-plan, two-story frame building with single-story wings. A two-story rear addition was constructed around 1950, and a rear porch was added in 1988, bringing the house to its present form.