The Whiskey Papers #8 - Buxton's Old Red Tavern
I have great admiration for Orville and Audrey Orr. When Eugene Brown stepped down as Principal from Alexandria, at the urging of Joesph Mills, Superintendent, the newly founded Northridge School District Board of Education hired Orville Orr to replace Gene. Within a year, Orville bought the Buxton Inn in Granville. The last time I saw Orville was shortly before he sold the business he had worked so hard to grow. Orville was buying paint... Orville was tireless and would probably be doing the painting himself. There was not a single instance when Orville or Audrey were in the house, so to speak, that my wife and I were not immediately recognized, welcomed, and given such warm hospitality at the Buxton Inn. Thank you Orville and Audrey for your commitment!
The Buxton Inn was, as is currently advertised, named after Major Horton Buxton. This is the right Buxton family, but not St. Albans Buxton family. I cannot say what persuaded the Buxton family to decide to become tavernkeepers, but they did. Major Horton Buxton was a younger brother to Harry S. Buxton, a farmer in St. Albans. The Buxtons came from a long line of military heritage. Evenso, the entire frontage along the south side of West Main Street from Beechwood Drive to the Gas Station and Hawk's Nest was, at one time, Harry Buxton's farm. Harry Buxton's farmhouse still stands across West Main Street fom the Baptist Church. It is the father of the half-brothers, Harry and Horton, we are interested in. This is David Buxton.
Buxton's 'Old Red' Tavern stood on Main Street west of the downtown block. Today, a magnificent brick house, once owned by Neil and Marty Fisher, stands next to the old Harry and Helen Dumbauld house. I always wondered why the Dumbauld house was built so close to the alley... it was because Buxton's Tavern made it so.
So what of Buxton's Tavern? It was a place for teamsters to stop. It was a place for local business to be conducted. It was a destination. Harry Buxton would treat himself, from time to time, by going there for smoked oysters and crackers. Apparently, Harry made quite a feast of this. L. S. Chadwick, an informal historian weighs in on Buxton's Tavern,
It seems probable that the first hotel was kept by a Mr. Patterson, in the old building now in the rear of John Loyd's store (E.E. Thomas property), the building then on the corner and having a porch along the front side, but the first hotel of much notoriety was known as the "Old Red Tavern", standing on the lots of C.B. Buxton and the Town Hall, side towards Main Street, and kept for a number of years by David Buxton, the father of the Buxton boys now residing here. This building is now the rear end of the Beaumont store room (burned with the business block in 1905.) [...] as most travelers drank whiskey, and all taverns kept it for sale, hence the taverns were located every few miles on this main line of travel, and tavern keepers, among which was the Old Red Tavern and its owner David Buxton, Sr. did an enormous business.
[Author's Note: The E. (Earl) E. Thomas property is now the Robinson Building.]
The 1870 Federal Census for Alexandria and St. Albans Township tells us more,
Buxton, David, age 70, keeps hotel, born in Vermont
Catharine, age 39, Female, keeping house, born in Virginia
David, age 38, Male, at home, born in Vermont
Charles, age 19, Male, works about the barn, born in Ohio
Harry, age 14, Male, at home, born in Ohio
Rufus, age 5, Male, at home, born in Ohio
Laura King, age 20, Female, domestic servant, born in Ohio
We know, from the 1866 map of Alexandria, that the Old Tavern was located on Lots 15 and 16 with the long side, or front, along Main Street. The Dumbauld house is situated right on the alleyway on the west side of Lot 16 and was so sited to accomodate the Old Tavern. Across the street was the Marandville house - one of the older houses in the town - now owned by the Hutchinsons. Finally, a building owned by Mrs. B Curtiss stands on the alleyway across from the Old Tavern. This would eventually be taken over by S.S. Anderson and become the old S.S. Anderson Hotel.
The Oliver and Milburn advertisement helps date the picture of the Old Red Tavern to after 1870. By then, Oliver Plows of South Bend, Indiana, and two major stockholders - George Milburn of Milburn Wagons and Clement Studebaker of Studebaker Manufacturing - had a dealership as close as Mansfield, Ohio. From Mansfield, Oliver and Milburn relied on local distributorships. Oliver Plows were highly sought because of the special quenching method used by Oliver that allowed their plows to cut through sticky soil with ease. Also, the presence of a gaslight allows us to narrow the picture to an even later date, certainly closer to 1900. We also find an advertisement for Watson Davison and his carriage business in the March 1881 edition of "The Church and Home," a local publication. Of note is the last line of Wat Davison's advertisement, "Office and Shop, formerly Buxton Hotel, Alexandria, Ohio"
Over a century ago, long-time Alexandria and St. Albans Township resident L. S. Chadwick wrote a series of articles for The Johnstown Independent containing insightful memories of Alexandria. The following passage was written after 1905 and is quoted from the history, Alexandria and St. Albans Township, Licking County, Ohio, Robert Price, editor,
It seems probable that the first hotel was kept by a Mr. Patterson, in the old building now in the rear of John Loyd's store (E.E. Thomas property), the building then on the corner and having a porch along the front side, but the first hotel of much notoriety was known as the "Old Red Tavern", standing on the lots of C.B. Buxton and the Town Hall, side towards Main Street, and kept for a number of years by David Buxton, the father of the Buxton boys now residing here. This building is now the rear end of the Beaumont store room (burned with the business block in 1905.)
The main route from Granville, the Delaware Road as it was known, went through a swamp surrounding Lobdell Creek that was so marshy that a courderoy road of Beech logs was laid. The road was so bad that Chadwick states that a five to six foot depth of gravel was piled there to make the road passable. Taken together, the Old Tavern would probably have made a welcome stop for teamster and traveler alike. I speculate this improvement to Raccoon Valley Road - the old Delaware Road - was made when the Toledo & Ohio Central Rail Road was driven through to make the grade crossing somewhat level.
L. S. Chawick continues
Perhaps no business of the early history of the village surpassed that of tavern keeping, as it was then called; the road from the eastern states, via Pittsburgh, Zanesville, and Newark to Delaware and the west [...] as most travelers drank whiskey, and all taverns kept it for sale, hence the taverns were located every few miles on this main line of travel, and tavern keepers, among which was the Old Red Tavern and its owner David Buxton, Sr. did an enormous business..
Buxton's Old Red Tavern was not just for travelers. It served as a central meeting place for local residents. It is said much business - unofficial and official - was conducted within its walls. Voting took place there as well as business deals and property transactions.
If David Buxton was doing a healthy business at his tavern with teamsters, travelers, and local residents... what happened? The Prohibitionist did not close him down; his business was over years earlier. The Ohio Canal did not replace the horse and wagon, in fact, it would have strengthened it as a method of transportation to move goods from Newark westward. But the Toledo & Ohio Central RR - and I would also include the Central Ohio Railroad's Panhandle Route - stopped at every town along the way. I believe these railroads replaced the freight traffic that would have been carried by wagon through town. This would serve as explanation... David Buxton saw dwindling business. Combined with Buxton's age, it is now much easier to understand what happened to the Old Tavern. It was an unexpected consequence.
David Buxton died on July 12, 1879. Sometime in the 1880s, the Old Tavern was no longer - the Old Tavern seemed to die with David Buxton. Harry Buxton notes that he paid 50 cents for Oysters and Crackers at the Buxton House on December 31, 1881. But by March 1881, Watson Davison had begun his wagon business in the Old Tavern. Around 1900, the building was dismantled and stored on Lot 14. In 1905, it was destroyed by the Great Fire. The Fire Chief, Watson Davison, would have seen it burn. The age of the tavern was over.
As a note, there is an addendum, The Whiskey Papers #8A, The Buxton House.
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