Black Tavern

Located in the geographic center of Dudley, Massachusetts, atop Dudley Hill, 600 feet above sea level, the Black Tavern occuples a corner lot at the intersection of Dudley Hill Center Road andlanyardRoad. The building, which faces west, is set back approximately 20 feet from the road. Alongside its southern elevation are several mature trees, while the front lawn is simply planted with grass. The lot slopes away steeply behind the front of the building. To the immediate north of the building stands a former shoe shop (ca. 1805, #54), now a college dormitory. Typically Federal in its design, the tavern is rectangular in shape, with two ells added (see attached plan). Its main section, built 1n 1803-1804, 1s a five-day, center-entry, - 1/2-story building.

It has a central chimney centered on the ridge. To the east, rear of the building, a carpenter shop, 1 1/2 stories with a full basement, was added in 1810. In 1835, a three-bay, two-story ell, with central entry, was added on to the north side of the tavern. The main part of the building and its northern ell rise from a rough-quarried granite foundation, while the eastern ell sits on a raised brick foundation. The tavern is sheathed in clapboard throughout, except for the above-ground brick basement of the eastern ell, and plain corner boards frame the building. While it is believed that the original roof shingles were wooden, the present roofing material is asphalt.

Much of the original fenestration, which is primarily 12/12 double-hung sash, remains Shutters surrounding many of the windows are also thought to be original. The main,western facade of the originalblock is composed of five symmetrically arranged bays. Two simply framed windows flank a finely detailed doorway: dentilated pediment and fluted pilasters frame a semi-circular fanlight and paneled door.

/Architect Hezekiah Healy, builder ca. 1835 Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The Black Tavern, built 1n 1804, is an imposing Federal-period building, prominently situated at the top of Dudley Hill in Dudley. Its size and series of early 19th century additions bespeak its importance as a prominent tavern along the Boston-Hartford roadway, and it is one of the best-preserved Federal-period structures in the old section of Dudley. The Black Tavern possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, and workmanship, as well as associations with the development of the oldest part of Dudley.

As a well-preserved example of a Federal-period tavern, and for its Tater associations with the community's development for its use as a summer home and then as a college dormitory, the Black Tavern fulfills criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places. At the time of the Black Tavern's construction in 1803-1804, Dudley was a midway point on a stagecoach route between Boston and Hartford. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, central Massachusetts had a number of transportation routes linking the Commonwealth with points south, but only one passed directly over the hill that marked Dudley Center. A 1795 map of Dudley shows the intersection of a north/south "County Road" with an east-west "Town Road" as one of the few routes available throughthe area.

Ten years-later, the nominated property occupied a site at the intersection of these two roadways. Other turn-of-the-century development at this intersection helped form the nucleus of the town. The hill and its immediate vicinity were first the focus of English settlement in the early 1720s, and the town of Dudley was established in 1732.