Gadsby’s Tavern.  134 North Royal Street.  Mrs. Hawkins operated a tavern on this site, and Washington’s accounts list payments to her in 1774 and 1775.  The older (134 North Royal Street) of the two current Gadsby’s Tavern buildings was probably built in the 1780s by John Wise (d. 1815), although it may have been an enlargement of Hawkins’ tavern, which was here by 1771.  Wise acquired the property in 1782, and he built the adjacent City Hotel (138 North Royal Street) in 1792.  Wise leased the City Hotel to John Gadsby (1766-1844) from 1796 until 1808.  In addition to Washington, famous customers of this tavern include John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and the Marquis de Lafayette.

 On July 4, 1793, while President, George Washington was honored at a sit-down dinner for 100 in Mr. Wise’s Long Room.  In his remarks, Washington made an important foreign policy pronouncement, defining neutrality for the new nation.  He said “that we live under a government of laws; and that, while we preserve inviolate our national faith, we are desirous to live in amity with all mankind.”  After several toasts and three cheers, as well as 15 rounds from the 12-pounders, the President raised his glass and toasted, “Prosperity to the town of Alexandria.”

When Washington returned to Mount Vernon after serving two terms as first President of the United States, the citizens of Alexandria held a banquet for him at Gadsby’s Tavern on March 25, 1797.  Washington remarked on the “pleasure I shall derive from the prospect of spending the remainder of my days in ease [and] tranquility among you.”

On February 12, 1798, a military escort accompanied both George and Martha to Alexandria, troops of the local militia paraded for the General at Gadsby’s Tavern, and the Washingtons then enjoyed a great feast and ball in the ballroom in celebration of his birthday. 

On February 12, 1799, a military escort again accompanied the Washingtons to Alexandria.  When they reached town, Martha went to Gadsby’s Tavern while General Washington watched a mock battle.  Then, they both attended a birth night ball at Gadsby’s Tavern.  Balls commemorating George Washington’s birthday are still held at Gadsby’s Tavern every year.

According to an account by George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857), Martha Washington’s grandson, George Washington came to Alexandria on business in November 1798 and dined with a few friends at Gadsby’s.  Gadsby told the group that he had a “good store of canvas-back ducks in the larder.”  Washington replied, “Very good sir ... give us some of them, with a chafing-dish, some hominy, and a bottle of good Madeira, and we shall not complain.” 

Ducks would have been available frequently at taverns such as Gadsby’s because the region around Alexandria was a wintering ground for ducks and geese of all types.  One 1785 visitor to Mount Vernon noted that he had seen “thousands of wild ducks” on the river, “all within gunshot.”  George Washington Parke Custis remembered so many canvas-back ducks on the Potomac during his boyhood winters that one shot by Tom Davis, a slave who hunted for Washington’s table, “would procure as many of those delicious birds as would supply the larder for a week.”  African-born Sambo Anderson, a former slave from Mount Vernon, supported himself and his family by hunting ducks and selling them to hotels and taverns in Alexandria after he was freed by the terms of Washington’s will.

Approximately adjacent to Gadsby’s Tavern (on the south side) is the site of Charles Mason’s mid-1750s ordinary or inn.  Washington’s accounts show payments for lodgings and meals at Mason’s in 1755, 1756, 1757, and 1760.  Charles Mason’s ordinary was Washington’s headquarters while recruiting in Alexandria for the French and Indian War.

Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, located at 134 North Royal Street, is open to the public for tours.  Admission charge.  At 138 North Royal Street, Gadsby’s Tavern Restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner, featuring period fare. 

(Adapted from Robert Madison’s Walking with Washington, available in Alexandria museum gift shops.)