The Historic Strasburg Inn was completed and opened for business in 1973, constructed similar to the elegant country inns found in the eighteenth century. The inn buildings housing our rooms and the Fireside Tavern have deep roots and heritage in the community of Strasburg.

Fireside Tavern

The earliest record of anyone owning what used to be the Washington House Restaurant is James Whitehill in 1826. It stood on the square of Strasburg and was very similar in structure to the present Fireside Tavern which stands on our property. The following people are recorded as owning the building during its lifetime: Henry Keneagy in 1850, Henry Bear in 1854, Mary Louise Neesly in 1854, Benjamin Fritz in 1901 and J.M. Hagens in 1921.

The Washington House was used as a hostelry until J.M. Hagens bought it. He converted it into second floor apartments and used the first floor for an American store, an automobile showroom, borough council offices and a dentist office. The First National Bank of Strasburg bought it in 1963 and demolished the building in 1964 so they could construct a new bank on that site.

Historic Strasburg Inn

The buildings are named for prominent people who helped establish the town of Strasburg. A desire for religious liberty has been a motive for leading people into new lands. Such was the impulse, when William Penn invited the Swiss Mennonites to our shores in 1683. Branching out from their original settlement in Germantown, a company of these reached and settled on the banks of Pequea creek on June 30, 1710. Two years later, thirty-six of the leaders in this group were granted patent deeds for 14,000 acres of land in the county surrounding Strasburg, extending as far as Willow Street. Tradition tells us that the first dwelling in Strasburg was built around 1733 by George Hoffman, one of the above grantees. Building one was first named the Hoffman House.

Martin Kendig was another of the original grantees. Building three was originally named the Kendig House. In the year 1784 the American Methodist Church was organized as an Episcopal church, and the same year a man named Francis Asbury was ordained a bishop. On September 28th he preached in a tavern believing there should be a place of worship established there. Finally in 1795 his faith was divinely honored by the establishment of a Methodist Episcopal Church. Building two was then named the Bishop Ashbury House.

The name Musselman is very common in this area. The three men with that last name, made significant contributions to the town. Edward took over the operation of the Strasburg Railroad in 1888 and ran it successfully until his son, Frank bought the remaining shares and was in charge until 1918. John was one of the first directors of the Strasburg Bank, which was founded in 1863, making it the 42nd oldest bank in the USA. Finally, Henry Musselman owned the largest general store around 1852. We are not certain which of these fine men building four, the Musselman House was named for, but anyone of them could have deserved the honor.

Our fifth building, the Carpenter House, was named for Senator John Carpenter. He was the director of the Strasburg Philosophical Society, which was a group of people that formed to bring more cultural activity to Strasburg. It is believed that he was one of the descendants of the early French Huguenot families, who came over with Mary Feree some eighty years earlier.