City Directories and History: MCCRADY’S TAVERN
Constructed 1779; rehabilitated and partially restored 1981
Edward McCrady, a wealthy landowner and Revolutionary patriot, completed a tavern fronting on East Bay Street by 1779. The site included a separate kitchen across the rear courtyard topped by a space used as a long room, or ballroom. He constructed this two-story brick building as an assembly room for public entertainment; it subsequently became a venue for the Charleston Theatre. George Washington was entertained at a banquet in the long room during his visit in 1791. The brick arches and kitchen fireplaces still visible on the first floor constitute the most interest-ing original survivors of the tavern. By the late-nineteenth century the structure be-came a warehouse. In the 1970s it was restored and rehabilitated as a restaurant.
The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
Please enjoy this structure and all those listed in Roots and Recall. But remember each is private property. So view them from a distance or from a public area such as the sidewalk or public road.
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