McAllister Tavern
Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Here, along the Monocacy Road, Richard McAllister erected a two-story log building and opened a store and tavern. In 1755, Benjamin Franklin was a guest at the Tavern. Old building was razed in 1950.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Along the old Monocacy Road, Richard McAllister raised a two-story log building and opened a store and tavern that helped seed the settlement that became Hanover. In 1755 Benjamin Franklin, then organizing supply and communication for the frontier during the French and Indian War era, stopped as a guest. The original building stood until it was razed in 1950.
Why it matters
Roadside taverns like McAllister's were the waystations of colonial travel and commerce, knitting scattered backcountry settlements into a connected society.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- Hanover Fire Museum0.2 mi away
- Neas House0.3 mi away · 103 West Chestnut Street, Hanover, PA
- Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association12.2 mi away
- Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center13.0 mi away
- Gettysburg Museum13.1 mi away
- Battlefield Military Museum13.1 mi away
Food & drink
- Mason Dixon Distillery13.2 mi away · 331 East Water Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Li's Buffet13.2 mi away · 165 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Reid's Winery Cider House13.4 mi away · 400 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Chinatown Kitchen13.4 mi away · 25 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Upper Crust Pizza13.4 mi away · 19 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
- Borough BBQ13.4 mi away · 15 York Street, Gettysburg, PA
Places to stay
- Sleep Inn and Suites11.4 mi away · 1650 York Road, Gettysburg, PA
- Courtyard Gettysburg11.6 mi away · 115 Presidential Circle, Gettysburg, PA
- Wyndham11.6 mi away · 95 Presidential Circle, Gettysburg, PA
- City Express11.6 mi away · 1857 Gettysburg Village Drive, Gettysburg, PA
- Holiday Inn Express & Suites11.9 mi away · 1971 Gettysburg Village Drive, Gettysburg, PA
- Hampton Gettysburg12.1 mi away · 1280 York Road, Gettysburg, PA
Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Richard McAllister
- · Benjamin Franklin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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In November 1863, this rural railroad junction in York County was where Abraham Lincoln's train changed lines on his way to dedicate the national cemetery at Gettysburg. Months earlier the same junction had funneled wounded men from the battlefield onward to distant hospitals, and it served as a key relay on the military telegraph network that carried war news north and east. What looks like an ordinary spot where two rail lines met was, for a season, a nerve center of the war in Pennsylvania.
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In 1851 C. Jacob Fussell built a factory near here to turn the surplus milk and cream of York County's dairy farmers into ice cream—the first time the treat was mass-produced for commercial sale in the United States. The nearby Northern Central Railroad carried his product straight to the Baltimore market. After Fussell relocated to Baltimore, local makers kept the trade alive into the 1940s.
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