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In October 2004, the Folsom Tavern was moved to its current location on Water St. in downtown Exeter. Restoration of the building has included installing a new roof and clapboards and removing a 1950's-era kitchen and bathroom.

Interior restoration began in January 2006. On May 8, 2006, the museum received $100,000 from New Hampshire's Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) to complete interior restoration of the tavern. The project was completed in Spring 2007.

The Folsom Tavern was built c. 1775 by Colonel Samuel Folsom, brother of General Nathaniel Folsom. The tavern stood facing the square, located on the corner of Court and Mill streets (now Front and Water streets).

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George Washington’s Visit

Revolutionary officers met at the Folsom Tavern on Tuesday, November 18, 1783, and formed the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Hampshire. President George Washington stopped by the tavern on the morning of November 4, 1789 to ‘partake of a collation’ during his tour of New England.

Widow Folsom’s Inn

After Samuel Folsom’s death in 1790, one-third of his estate with half-part of the ‘mansion’ was bequeathed to his wife Elizabeth, and the remaining two-thirds of his estate went to his three daughters. Elizabeth continued to run the tavern until her death in 1805 as “Widow Folsom’s Inn.” The historic structure stayed in the family until 1856 when it was sold to George Washington Dearborn, a retired druggist who kept a “curiosity” antiques shop in the building.

A Tavern Transformed

In May 1869, approval for the widening of Water Street was granted to alleviate the traffic congestion in the center of town, and the tavern was set back closer to Sleeper’s jewelry store. During the first move, the original chimneys were removed and the building was put on a high foundation that allowed for shops beneath.

Upon Dearborn’s death in 1896, he bequeathed his ‘corner estate’ to Elizabeth Ewer, an unmarried local woman who was known as “Miss Lizzie Ewer, Inspirational Lecturer and Test Medium,” a mystic and landscape painter.

		Folsom Tavern on its original foundation, c. 1860
		Folsom Tavern, c. 1910
		Folsom Tavern, c. 1930
		Exeter bandstand with tavern to right, c. 1917
		The Museum uses the Tavern mostly for special events and programs.

The Exeter, Hampton and Amesbury Street Railway began in 1897 and the lower floor of the tavern became the passenger station waiting room. The upper floors of the building held apartments and offices, including the headquarters for the Exeter and Hampton Electric Co. In the basement at various times were a shoe repair shop, a Chinese laundry, a millinery shop operated by Nellie Rollins, and the passenger waiting station. Oliver R. Yeaton and his wife, Augusta Cenith Beardslee ran the streetcar waiting station and opened their restaurant, later called “Washington’s Lunch,” in the waiting room around 1907.

Building Lot to Gas Station

The tavern was purchased from Elizabeth Ewer on November 4, 1909, by John Scammon. Twenty years later, Scammon sold the Folsom site to the Standard Oil Co. and “with a fine appreciation of the niceties” gave the building to the Society of the Cincinnati.

The Tavern’s New Home

Society members raised the funds needed to move the tavern to its third foundation at 21 Spring Street. The old tavern site became a Standard Oil filling station. The Folsom Tavern remained empty until 1947 when Foster and Martha G. Stearns moved into the tavern after a major renovation and modernization by Boston architects Downer & Root. The kitchen of the Folsom Tavern was in an ell and this was not moved when the tavern was brought from its original location. After Foster Stearns died in 1956, Martha moved to a suite in the Exeter Inn, and the tavern subsequently housed four more tenants off and on until 1992.