Walloomsac Inn (formerly Dewey Tavern), Bennington, Vermont
For Restoration Obscura
This building began its life in 1771 as Dewey's Tavern, erected in Old Bennington on Monument Avenue across from the Old First Church. It was built by Elijah Dewey, who only a few years later served as a captain in the local militia at the Battle of Bennington, fought nearby in August of 1777. Taverns like this served as more than roadside lodging. They were gathering places where travelers, militia, farmers, and merchants exchanged news and information as the young republic took shape. The inn also functioned as a meeting place for the Vermont Legislature during the state's years as an independent republic, and in 1791 hosted future presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who were in town to mark Vermont's acceptance into the union.
For Restoration Obscura
This building began its life in 1771 as Dewey's Tavern, erected in Old Bennington on Monument Avenue across from the Old First Church. It was built by Elijah Dewey, who only a few years later served as a captain in the local militia at the Battle of Bennington, fought nearby in August of 1777. Taverns like this served as more than roadside lodging. They were gathering places where travelers, militia, farmers, and merchants exchanged news and information as the young republic took shape. The inn also functioned as a meeting place for the Vermont Legislature during the state's years as an independent republic, and in 1791 hosted future presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who were in town to mark Vermont's acceptance into the union.
Ownership and names changed with the generations. After Elijah Dewey's death in 1818, the tavern passed to the Hicks family and became known as Hicks Tavern, continuing its role as a stopping place for travelers moving between the Hudson Valley and the Green Mountains. In 1848, as stagecoach travel was giving way to the railroad, the building was purchased by George Wadsworth Robinson, who renamed it the Walloomsac House, after the river that runs nearby, and the establishment eventually came to be known as the Walloomsac Inn.
The building is sometimes confused with the Mount Anthony Seminary, though the two were separate establishments in Old Bennington. The Walloomsac Inn occupied its prominent site on Monument Avenue, serving travelers and hosting civic life for well over a century.
Today the structure remains as a weathered survivor of that long transition. Clapboards bow outward, dormer windows lean toward the sky, and a later metal fire escape clings to the façade. Long-exposure photographs stretch the clouds overhead into slow ribbons of motion, compressing time above a building that has already witnessed more than two and a half centuries of it. As of 2025, new owners have acquired the property with plans to restore it and reopen it to the public.
Places like this become quiet historical archives. Long after the travelers have disappeared and the tavern doors have closed, the structure remains, keeping watch over the valley where roads, wars, and generations of movement once passed.
Learn more on www.restorationobscura.com
The building is sometimes confused with the Mount Anthony Seminary, though the two were separate establishments in Old Bennington. The Walloomsac Inn occupied its prominent site on Monument Avenue, serving travelers and hosting civic life for well over a century.
Today the structure remains as a weathered survivor of that long transition. Clapboards bow outward, dormer windows lean toward the sky, and a later metal fire escape clings to the façade. Long-exposure photographs stretch the clouds overhead into slow ribbons of motion, compressing time above a building that has already witnessed more than two and a half centuries of it. As of 2025, new owners have acquired the property with plans to restore it and reopen it to the public.
Places like this become quiet historical archives. Long after the travelers have disappeared and the tavern doors have closed, the structure remains, keeping watch over the valley where roads, wars, and generations of movement once passed.
Learn more on www.restorationobscura.com
© 2026 John Bulmer Photography, John Bulmer Media, Nor'easter Films, and Restoration Obscura
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