Historic “Cannonball House” Showcases Early American History
Connecticut visitors looking for something to do in Ridgefield might stop in at the Keeler Tavern Museum should they find it open. The historic house, a one-time tavern right on Main Street in Ridgefield, pre-dates the American Revolution and still bears a highly visible vestige of it—an old cannonball shot by the British remains in the tavern’s wall.
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On our visit, a docent in period clothing—colonial era, although she leads us through a couple of centuries on our brief tour—guides us back in time from the building’s beginnings as the home of Benjamin Hoyt, a survivor of an Indian massacre who managed to flee from Massachusetts to stay with relatives in Connecticut.
Timothy Keeler (a grandson of Hoyt) and his wife Esther opened an inn on the property in 1772. The tavern also served as a tiny post office.
Surviving the American Revolution and Becoming the Cannonball House
By the time the colonies declared their independence from England, Timothy Keeler had become a patriot and evidently had a bit of a munitions-making operation going on in the basement. When the British military arrived (the battle of Ridgefield took place in April 1777), its leaders apparently were aware of the nefarious activities happening in Keeler Tavern. A cannonball fired on the tavern remains in its walls today.
Thanks to the loyalist next door, the tavern itself was spared destruction by fire.
In a bit of a burning mood (having already torched nearby Danbury in an effort to destroy ammunition), the British planned to burn the tavern as well—until the loyalist next door intervened.
The winds were blowing unfavorably such that should the tavern have gone up in flames, the home of a neighbor still loyal to King George likely would have been destroyed, too.
Life at Keeler Tavern in Colonial Times
I marvel at the tiny tavern area, which held the bar, that post office (nothing more than a closet, really), and a large fireplace for cooking (and, in more quiet times, for bathing since water had to be heated in that fireplace). The Keelers had 12 children, and, although not all of them made it to adulthood, conditions still would have been very crowded by today’s standards.
As our guide leads us from room to room and shows us how our revolutionary-era predecessors lived, we learn how a number of sayings originated. In the 1700s, people would bring a housewarming gift to new neighbors, in the form of a metal footwarming box containing live coals, the more easily with which to start an oh-so-vital fire. Today, people still welcome new neighbors with housewarming gifts although they tend not to be hot to the touch anymore.
In colonial times, bathwater was not changed after every use. After all, water had to be pumped from an outdoor well, brought inside, and heated in the fireplace before being poured into a nearby tub. Then the whole family would wash up, beginning with the man of the household and ending, logically, with the baby who just might soil that bathwater. And thus we get a reminder not to “throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
Upstairs guest rooms would provide a place to sleep to travelers who, depending on their economic choices, might stay together in the same bed with strangers. Mattresses and box springs not being what they are today, a nighttime guest might have to tighten ropes attached to a bedframe before getting some shut-eye. Those ropes supported a mattress stuffed with hay. People slept sitting up in those days, and that practice allowed them to sleep three to a bed. Advice to “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite” was apt given their circumstances.
Keeler Tavern Today
The tavern remained a family operation for some time but was eventually purchased by noted architect Cass Gilbert (who also designed the large fountain in Ridgefield at the juncture of Route 35 and Main Street) for use as a summer house.
Keeler Tavern became a museum in the 1960s. Its garden is also used for weddings and parties.
For Bashful Adventurers
- Staff are very friendly at Keeler Tavern and offer lots of tidbits of history and charming anecdotes about the tavern’s owners over the centuries. Visit and learn how the Bonaparte family (of France) ended up in Ridgefield for a short while.
- I love that time was taken to show how various (now likely unfamiliar) utensils in the kitchen were used. Bread dough had to be placed in an oven using a long-handled and heavy metal shovel. Candles (often made in part from animal fat) had to be stored in metal boxes to keep vermin away.
- Exit through the gift shop—and peruse a well-curated selection of books on local history.
- My pet peeve: photos of the tavern’s interior are not allowed. Otherwise, this small museum is perfectly charming.
Keeler Tavern Museum, 132 Main Street, Ridgefield, Conn. 06877
—Lori Tripoli
Lori Tripoli is the editor and publisher of Bashful Adventurer. Based in the New York City vicinity, she writes about travel for a variety of publications.
Contact Lori at loritripoli@bashfuladventurer.com.
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