Public-domain ebook
Language: en1,837 downloads on Project Gutenberg
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Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #37272.
Stage‑coach and Tavern Days is a richly illustrated reference work that surveys the social and logistical world of early American inns, taverns, and the vehicles that linked them. The volume opens with a lyrical vignette that imagines weary travelers alighting from a stagecoach and seeking refuge in a tavern, a scene that frames the ensuing chapters. From “The Puritan Ordinary” through “The Romance of the Road” and “Tavern Ghosts,” the book combines narrative history, legal excerpts, and a parade of period illustrations, sign‑boards, ledger entries, and photographs of surviving structures, offering a panoramic view of how ordinary hospitality shaped colonial and early‑national life.
Written in a measured, scholarly voice characteristic of turn‑of‑the‑century American historiography, the text blends factual detail with occasional anecdotal flourish. Its prose is clear yet occasionally ornate, reflecting the author’s 1900s perspective on a bygone era. Readers who relish meticulous cultural history, architectural enthusiasts, or anyone fascinated by the interplay of travel, law, and community in pre‑1850 United States will find the book both informative and evocative.
"Long ago, at the end of the route, The stage pulled up, and the folks stepped out. They have all passed under the tavern door-- The youth and his bride and the gray three-score. Their eyes were weary with dust and gleam, The day had gone like an empty dream. Soft may they slumber, and trouble no more For their eager journey, its jolt and roar, In the old coach over the mountain." …
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