Pirate Stuart Carkeek (left to right), and staff servers Linda Hess and Natalie Reenock display drinks as they were served and consumed from 1777 to 1873, when Haddonfield banned alcohol and became a dry town.
Holiday lights dazzled eyes all along Kings Highway on Dec. 12, as more than 1,000 people browsed through stores filled with gift options, stopped and enjoyed dinner at restaurants and strolled down the sidewalk at this year’s Haddonfield Candlelight Shopping celebration.
As an added bonus, many residents took advantage of the free Yuletide at the Museum tours in the historic Indian King Tavern, where they sipped warm apple cider, decorated ornaments and learned more about how ancestors celebrated during the American Revolutionary War.
Live entertainment was provided by The Sea Dogs, dressed as pirates, performing songs working sailors would belt out while at sea and tavern favorites they would enjoy during stays on land in the 18th century.
“I enjoy meeting new people and sharing history with those who have never been here,” said Natalie Reenock of Haddonfield, dressed as a member of the tavern staff of old. She has been a member of the Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum for 15 years.
Reenock said the oldest part of the museum was built in 1730, and it became a tavern and hotel in 1777, hosting important meetings of the New Jersey General Assembly and legislative council to determine how the new state government would be formed if the Continental Army won the Revolutionary War.
Legislators passed laws governing elections, courts, and townships, and struggled to wage war against an occupying army when Haddonfield served as the state capital from January to September 1777.
Crucial meetings in the assembly room on the second floor included the reading of the Declaration of Independence, the declaration of the “state” of New Jersey – no longer referring to it as a colony – and the creation and design of the seal of New Jersey, part of all state flags, according to Reenock.
Unfortunately, the British occupied Haddonfield in October 1777 and took over the tavern. Hessian mercenary soldiers set up camp in the town and on Oct. 22, they marched to attack Fort Mercer on the Delaware River waterfront in the Battle of Red Bank.
The original building predates its use as a tavern, and now consists of three connected buildings, with the newest one built in 1830, Reenock explained. It operated as a tavern and hotel from 1777 until 1873, providing locals and travelers with food and drink, lodging and lively conversation.
Behind the building there were stables for the horses of visitors, who had to pay extra for fresh hay, she noted. The hotel rooms were on the second and third floors.
“We have big things planned for the 250th anniversary of the United States,” claimed Reenock, including the reenactment of the Revolutionary War’s Haddonfield Skirmish in 1778.
“This important facility is part of the fabric of our great nation,” states the Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum website. “It also represents a simpler time when friends met over a glass of ale and piece of bread and shared stories and laughter.
“They also dined on fresh food and herbs from the garden amidst candle-lit tables and a roaring fireplace,” the statement added. “They paid one shilling and six pence for a room often shared by three other guests who stopped at the tavern overnight on their way to Philadelphia or New York.”
The museum offers free tours and history lessons to all who knock on its solid oak door. Student field trips are free to students or the schools, and teachers ofen create entire lesson plans around their visits to Indian King.
Special holiday events and lectures are regularly held, including food and beer tastings to help people recreate an earlier time and appreciate how things were done in the 1700s.
This historic building is New Jersey’s first state-owned historic site (1903), acquired as the result of petitioning by the Haddonfield Chapter of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) to state legislators.
During the Haddonfield candlelight shopping celebration, the museum opened its doors to the past to more than 100 visitors, and will continue to do so during the nation’s anniversary celebration next year.
