.....Brooke County, between 1797 and 1823, seemed to have its share of such establishments with most of them also serving as the home of the Inn Keeper.

.....Between June and August of 1797, ROBERT POTTS, WILLIAM THORPE, JAMES MAGRUDER, JAMES DAVIDSON, JONATHAN PALMER, ISAAC WARD, NICHOLAS GASSOWAY, DANIEL PATTERSON AND JAMES MC DILL, were granted licenses to operate "Ordinaries" in their homes by the Brooke County Court.

.....In 1807, CHARLES PRATHER was granted permission to keep an "Ordinary" at the Ferry House, and in 1809 JAMES MARSHALL was given permission to keep an "Ordinary" in his home on Bethany Pike.

.....As far back as 1788, mention if made of a Tavern and Inn operated by DANFORTH BROWN.

.....In 1813 a Tavern operated by a MRS. MILLER was located on the northeast corner of Sixth and Main Streets near the steamboat landing. ( Note, this is NOW '1997'the location of the Brooke County Museum gh)

.....In 1820, the Court granted licenses of JESSE STREET, ISAAC JONES, THOMAS MOORE, THOMAS BRANDON, WILLIAM BURT, S. CONNELL, HANNAH COULTER, JOHN ORR, JOHN TIBBS, GEORGE WOOD, ALEX IRWIN, CHARLES SCOTT, JOSIAH GAMBLE, ABSOLOM WELLS, JAMES BAKER, BENONI SWEARINGEN, SUSANNA LAURENCE, WILLIAM MILLER AND SETH CLARK.

.....In 1821, nine more men were granted permission to keep "ordinaries" and in 1822, the Court granted licenses to eighteen more men and one woman, MARY WOODS. In 1823, seven more men received their licenses.

.....There are no records available to indicate whether these were all in operation at the same time but obviously a resident of the county did not have to venture far to find one.

.....In 1862, CHRISTIAN MYERS was granted a license as a Keeper of a Coffee House, and in 1863, JOSEPH LETZICUTS had his license revoked for reasons unknown.

.....A published schedule of rates for Ordinaries as approved by the County Court in 1799 has been found. The following charges were allowed: Breakfast and Supper, 20 cents; Dinner, 25 cents; Lodging, 5 cents; Hay, per night, 17 cents; Oats or corn, per quart, 2 cents; whiskey 1/2 pint 9 cents; Rum 1/2 pint 10 cents; Brandy 1/2 pint 30 cents; Wines, ranging from $1.20 to $1.75; Cider 9 cents; Beer 9 cents.

.....Judging from the number of Inns and ordinaries present in Brooke County, there must have been an extremely large "tourist crowd" moving through the area!

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