Burnham Tavern

Burnham Tavern is a historic wood-frame building at 14 Colonial Way in downtown Machias, Maine. Constructed in 1770 by Job Burnham, it is among the oldest surviving buildings in the Machias area and is one of the community's most important surviving links to the American Revolutionary War. Although it originated as a tavern and local meeting place, its present identity is primarily that of a historic house museum rather than a conventional hospitality business. The building is associated especially with the events surrounding the Battle of Machias in 1775, often described as the first naval battle or first naval encounter of the American Revolution. Local militia members used the tavern as a meeting place during the period leading up to the engagement. After the fighting, the building served as a hospital for wounded men from both sides. Museum displays include artifacts connected with the capture of the British armed schooner Margaretta, an episode central to the local Revolutionary War narrative. Architecturally, Burnham Tavern is a rectangular, two-story timber-frame structure with a gambrel roof and a clerestory band of second-floor windows. Its principal elevation is arranged in five bays, and a large central chimney organizes the interior. The entrance vestibule contains a distinctive divided staircase, allowing separate access to bedrooms on the upper floor. Parlor spaces flank the chimney, while the kitchen occupies much of the western side and includes a large fireplace. These features, together with period furnishings, help convey the building's late-eighteenth-century domestic and social setting. The tavern remained an important local social gathering place well into the twentieth century. It is now operated as the Burnham Tavern Museum by the Hannah Weston Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The museum preserves the structure, interprets its Revolutionary-era role, and presents late-eighteenth-century furnishings and objects connected with Machias's wartime history. Burnham Tavern was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Because the subject is a historic property and museum rather than a commercial consumer brand, conventional brand indicators such as corporate ownership, financial reporting, product sales, and public-market information do not apply.

English settlers reached the Machias area in 1763. Seven years later, Job Burnham built the structure now known as Burnham Tavern. Its original function was connected with tavern keeping, lodging, food, drink, and local social interaction. The building's location in what became downtown Machias helped it develop into a significant community meeting place. Its most important historical association came during the early Revolutionary War. In 1775, local militia members used the tavern as a gathering point during the events that preceded the Battle of Machias. The engagement is widely identified as the first naval battle, or one of the earliest naval encounters, of the American Revolution. The action included the capture of the British armed schooner Margaretta. Burnham Tavern later functioned as a hospital for wounded participants from both sides, giving the building a direct connection not only to military planning but also to the human consequences of the fighting. The building continued to serve as a prominent local social center into the twentieth century. Its survival preserved an unusually complete physical setting for interpreting life in the Machias area during the late eighteenth century. The structure is a two-story wood-frame building with a gambrel roof, clerestory windows on the upper level, a five-bay main facade, and a large central chimney. Inside, a vestibule contains a branching staircase that provides separate access to the second-floor bedrooms. Parlor rooms sit on either side of the chimney, while a kitchen with a substantial fireplace occupies much of the western portion of the house. In its modern role, Burnham Tavern is operated as the Burnham Tavern Museum by the Hannah Weston Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The museum uses the preserved building, period furnishings, and Revolutionary War artifacts to interpret both domestic life and the history of the Battle of Machias. Objects associated with the capture of the Margaretta are among the materials connected with that interpretation. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Its current significance rests on the combination of architectural survival, local community history, and documented Revolutionary War associations.

• 1973

  Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

  [1]Burnham Tavernen.wikipedia.org

  Burnham Tavern received recognition through listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

• 1775

  Role in the Battle of Machias

  [1]Burnham Tavernen.wikipedia.org

  The tavern served as a meeting place for local militia during the events surrounding the Battle of Machias and later operated as a hospital for wounded men from both sides.

• 1770

  Tavern constructed

  [1]Burnham Tavernen.wikipedia.org

  Job Burnham built the two-story wood-frame tavern that survives in Machias, Maine.

• 1763

  English settlement reaches the Machias area

  [1]Burnham Tavernen.wikipedia.org

  English settlers arrived in the Machias area, establishing the local context in which Burnham Tavern was later built.

A locally significant historic site and museum interpreting Machias's eighteenth-century community life and its connection to the American Revolutionary War.

• Historic house museum

  Burnham Tavern Museum

  The museum preserves and interprets the 1770 tavern, presenting late-eighteenth-century furnishings and material connected with Machias's Revolutionary War history. Its interpretation emphasizes the building's role as a militia meeting place, wartime hospital, and local social center.

• Heritage exhibition

  Battle of Machias historical interpretation

  Displays and interpretation address the 1775 Battle of Machias, including artifacts associated with the capture of the Margaretta. The subject connects the building's local history with the opening naval actions of the American Revolutionary War.

1. 1Burnham Tavernen.wikipedia.org