![]() It was on the Boston Post Road where, in 1716, David Howe expanded his house and opened an establishment known simply as Howe’s Tavern, today Longfellow’s Wayside Inn. On a rugged continent with little infrastructure, America’s post roads were bustling commer- cial corridors along which taverns could do brisk business. A modest sign near the bar signals the establishment’s 1723 construction, and the owners keep behind the bar a framed copy of each of the building’s liquor licenses going back to 1887. The tavern still rents out rooms, seven in total. What the bar lacks in polished mahogany or post-and-beam ceilings, it makes up for with a sense of deep socioeconomic continuity and a feeling that its current state is the result of an unbroken line of repairs and tweaks made by proud tavern keepers going back three hundred years. Nothing-not the floors, not the ceilings, not the bar itself-appears original, and the tavern has the distinction of being perhaps the only Revolutionary tavern with beer neon signs in its windows. Entertainment consists of a corner jukebox and lone television set, and the front door’s sensor squeal is so meekly annoying it’s charming. The bar is tended by the current owners, whose family has owned the tavern for nearly seventy years. The Mill Street Hotel & Tavern first opened its doors in 1723 as the impressively named Three Tun Tavern, signifying the tavern was permitted to store up to three tuns (about 750 gallons) of liquor onsite. The tavern’s location along the outer boundary of town makes it easy to miss but also makes it a haven for local residents.
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