Wayside Inn Historic District

The Wayside Inn Historic District is a historic district on Old Boston Post Road in Sudbury, Massachusetts. The district contains the Wayside Inn, a historic landmark that is one of the oldest inns in the country, operating as Howe's Tavern in 1716.[2] The district features Greek Revival and American colonial architecture. The area was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

For other uses, see Wayside Inn (disambiguation).
Wayside Inn Historic District
The Wayside Inn in 2007
LocationSudbury, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°21′28″N 71°28′5″W
Built1686
ArchitectMultiple
Architectural styleGreek Revival, Colonial
NRHP reference No.73000307 [1]
Added to NRHPApril 23, 1973

The Wayside Inn
Further information: Wayside Inn (Sudbury)

Other structures

Henry Ford built a replica and fully working grist mill and a white non-denominational chapel, named after his mother, Mary, and mother-in-law, Martha. Less well known is Ford's attempt to create a reservoir for the Wayside Inn. Across US Rte. 20 and now secluded in a wooded area behind private homes is a 30 ft. high stone dam. Dubbed by the locals as "Ford's Folly" the structure failed to retain water because the feeding brook provided insufficient volume and the ground was too porous for a pond to fill.

In the grounds of the chapel stands a one-room schoolhouse that was moved there from its original location in Sterling, Massachusetts, by Ford, who believed the building was the actual schoolhouse mentioned in Sarah Josepha Hale's poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb", though little historical evidence exists to support his belief.

  • The main entrance of the inn
  • A marker announcing George Washington's passing through in 1775
  • The Wayside Inn, c. 1935
  • The inn's grist mill

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. Historic Homes and Genealogical memoirs of Early New England pg 281-283 publ 1909 by Ellery Bicknell Crane
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