The earliest structure in what became the town of Greencastle was a tavern. It was on the southwestern corner of an intersection where the King's Highway, connecting the Susquehanna with the Potomac, crossed a primitive road that ran from western Pennsylvania to Baltimore, Maryland. No one knows when the tavern was built, but it did exist on lands purchased by William Allison in 1763. Six years later, Allison conveyed a 300-acre portion of his holdings to his son, John, who founded the town in 1782.
Colonel John Allison, a militia officer in the Revolution, founded Greencastle in a forest extending for miles in all directions. However, the tavern continued to serve its customers in this woodland setting while the town grew around it. The hostelry's site was the first lot to be surveyed and it remained as one of Allison's holdings until his death in 1795.
A feature of the tavern was the taproom's unusually wide fireplace. Here, travelers could gather in the evening hours for a meal to be followed by gossiping, playing cards, dancing, or drinking from the bar's limited offerings - usually hard cider, whiskey, or brandy. At night they unrolled their blankets and slept on the host's floor.
At Allison's death, George Fritzline purchased the property. Throughout the 1800's, five different proprietors owned the hostelry. Its appearance changed from a log to a weather boarded structure and prior to the Civil War, Joseph Haller constructed a brick building on the site that he called the Union Hotel. There were three owners in the early decades of the twentieth century. By then, it was known as the National Hotel and William Wortman was the last hotelkeeper. In 1923, its doors were closed and for the first time in over two hundred years, there was no tavern or hotel on the site first owned by the town's founder. The building is currently used for apartments and business establishments.
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Mailing Address:
Greencastle-Antrim Old Home Week Association
PO Box 536
Greencastle, PA 17225