Barns-Brinton House turns 300

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on May 21, 2014

The Chadds Ford Historical Society is launching a major celebration in honor of the 300^th anniversary of the Barns-Brinton House. The tavern on Route 1 in Pennsbury Township was built in 1714.

“A Toast to the Tavern: 300 Years” is an exhibit on display at the society’s Barn Visitors’ Center that shows centuries-old legal papers pertaining to the building as well as photographs the CFHS acquired over the years. The society bought the old tavern in 1966.

“The exhibition pulls out some of the high points of the history of the house since the Historical Society has taken over,” said Lora Englehart. Englehart is on the board of directors of the society.

The ceded transfer of the Barns-Brinton Hoiuse from Elizabeth Barns to James Few, 1731.

Barns was a blacksmith and Englehart said some of the iron work — door handles and hinges — is original.

“We think he put this beautiful hardware in his home as a showroom so he could show people what he could do,” she said.

There is also a wall on the upper floor separating the two sides. She said the wall was probably built to keep guests away from the family’s living quarters.

William Barns built the house as a tavern on “Ye Olde Great Road to Nottingham” in 1714 but over the years it changed hands. In 1731, Elizabeth Barns, William’s widow, sold the property to James Few. The original handwritten bill of sale, along with a typed version, is on display as part of the exhibit.

Few sold the property to James Brinton in 1753. At that time, she said, it was no longer used as a tavern and stopover. The house stayed in the Brinton family for 100 years. One of the more significant pieces of history surrounding the house is that on Sept. 11, 1777, Hessian troops marched by on their way to engage American forces to begin the Battle of Brandywine.

The Brinton family eventually sold the house. Over all, there have been 20 owners according to guest curator Laura Heemer who researched and put the exhibit together.

Heemer, an assistant curator at the Wharton-Esherick Museum in Paoli, said brick was expensive and Barns put everything he had into building the house. She said he owed money to more than 100 people.

The exhibit runs until Dec. 6.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.