Urbanna in Middlesex County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Prince George Street and Old Tavern
Urbanna, Virginia
The Museum in the Streetsฎ
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), November 25, 2021
1. Prince George Street and Old Tavern Marker
Inscription.
Prince George Street and Old Tavern. Urbanna, Virginia. Prince George Street is one of the original streets shown on early 1700s town survyes. The Middlesex County Courtyard backed up to the street and today the colonial "Old Tavern" still stands. Taverns or ordinaries were important to Middlesex's county street. On court days horse and buggy was the only transportation to town by land and sailing vessel by sea. a trip to court by anyone living any distance meant spending nights. In 1793 the town had only nine private dwellings but two taverns. Although the court restricted gaming in taverns, Urbanna, like most Tidwater Virginia communities of those times, had "tipple" (drinking intoxicants) and gaming. The taverns offered card games, dice, backgammon, billiards, horse racing and cock fighting as well as sheeted beds and a clean stall for the horse at night. Through the generations, It has been rumored that famed Virginia patriot, Patrick Henry, spent a night or two at Urbanna's Old Tavern. American patriot Dr. Arthur Lee of Lansdowne owned two lots on the street in 1790. A Methodist Church was built in 1902 on the corner of Prince George and Cross streets. Homes and buildings on this street today reflect a mixture of colonial, antebellum, civil war and post civil war architecture.
Prince George Street is one of the original streets shown on early 1700s town survyes. The Middlesex County Courtyard backed up to the street and today the colonial "Old Tavern" still stands. Taverns or ordinaries were important to Middlesex's county street. On court days horse and buggy was the only transportation to town by land and sailing vessel by sea. a trip to court by anyone living any distance meant spending nights. In 1793 the town had only nine private dwellings but two taverns. Although the court restricted gaming in taverns, Urbanna, like most Tidwater Virginia communities of those times, had "tipple" (drinking intoxicants) and gaming. The taverns offered card games, dice, backgammon, billiards, horse racing and cock fighting as well as sheeted beds and a clean stall for the horse at night. Through the generations, It has been rumored that famed Virginia patriot, Patrick Henry, spent a night or two at Urbanna's Old Tavern. American patriot Dr. Arthur Lee of Lansdowne owned two lots on the street in 1790. A Methodist Church was built in 1902 on the corner of Prince George and Cross streets. Homes and buildings on this street today reflect a mixture of colonial, antebellum, civil war and post civil war architecture.
Location. 37° 38.132′ N, 76° 34.588′ W. Marker is in Urbanna, Virginia, in Middlesex County. It is on Prince George Street 0.1 miles west of Cross Street (Virginia Route 227), on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 261 Prince George St, Urbanna VA 23175, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in the Tidewater, and in the Chesapeake Bay Region. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), November 25, 2021
2. Prince George Street and Old Tavern Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on November 25, 2021. It was originally submitted on November 25, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 519 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on November 25, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
