Come party with us at the Pearson Tavern, sip on cocktails, and enjoy a night to remember! This event is a fundraiser for the Museum!

Celebrate America’s 250th birthday in a house that was already old when independence was declared. This exclusive Museum of Old Newbury members-only evening at the privately owned Pearson Tavern brings together colonial cocktails, hearty food, live music, firelight, tavern tales, and a lively performance of An Evening at Pearson’s Tavern, featuring Jeremiah Pearson, local patriots, and a young Lord Timothy Dexter.

Step inside the privately owned Jeremiah Pearson Tavern, built in the late 17th century for a rare members-only night of history, hospitality, and Revolutionary good cheer. Traditionally said to have operated as a tavern from 1732 to 1837, this remarkable Byfield home offers a fitting setting for a party honoring America’s 250th birthday. This colorful description sets the scene:

"Among the old inns still standing is one at Byfield, Mass., formerly kept by Jeremiah Pearson, or "Old J. P." as he was familiarly known, from the fact that these initials were stamped on his rum barrels. The dining-room of this old tavern was known as "Independence Hall," having been so named by the soldiers of the vicinity, to whom "Old J. P." gave an elaborate dinner upon their return home at the close of the Revolution. It was here "Lord" Timothy Dexter, that eccentric old character of Newburyport, used to delight to come with Jonathan Plummer, his "poet-laureate," and partake of the tempting viands "Old J. P." set before him. I once saw a list of "Lord" Timothy's indebtedness to "Old J. P." in a book, now in the possession of one of the old innkeeper's descendants, and it amused me to note that the principal item on the bill was for liquors."

Source: "Old New England Inns," The Boston Cooking-School Magazine, 1908-1909