{"nrhp_refnum":"72000136","name":"Merrell Tavern","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"MA 102","address_restricted":false,"city":"South Lee","county":"Berkshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.27688643400006,"lon":-73.28257508999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-02-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Federal-style building with a later porch and third story, on Route 102 in South Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The original house was built around 1812 and served as a tavern and later a hotel.","why_significant":"It was one of the first fine brick houses in the region, with details based on Asher Benjamin's Federal designs. It illustrates in one building a fine house, an old-style tavern resembling a house, and a hotel of the fashionable later form. Its original tavern bar, painted graining and early paints survive largely unchanged because trade declined after 1850.","narrative":"Built around 1812 on Route 102 in South Lee, this two-story brick building began as a house for Major General Joseph Whiton, who commanded Western Massachusetts militia troops in the War of 1812. It was among the first fine brick houses in the region, with smooth Flemish-bond walls, large windows and details drawn from Asher Benjamin's Federal designs. From 1815 until 1918 it was owned by the Merrell family and their heirs, the Davises, who ran it as a tavern serving stagecoach traffic between Springfield and Albany. The tavern bar, with its wooden grille, survives intact. About 1838 a two-story porch and a third-story ballroom with small sleeping rooms were added, giving the building the look of the new hotels, and it was thereafter called a hotel. Trade declined after 1850, so the early oak graining, paints and a Franklin stove largely remain. Now a museum, it needs structural repair and restoration of early finishes.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date ca. 1812)","architect_builder":"Built as a house by Major General Joseph Whiton; design details based on Asher Benjamin's Federal-period designs","architectural_style":"Federal, with later additions transitional between Federal and Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good; occupied and used as a museum, though the building needs structural repair and stabilization, including work on the third-story gable-end walls.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.268701-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/7943/63794312/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/72000136.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000136/339be016c7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000136/339be016c7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Merrell_Inn,_South_Lee_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Merrell_Inn,_South_Lee_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"99000237","name":"South Lee Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/south-lee-historic-district-99000237/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794312","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrell_Tavern","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715708"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/berkshire-county/merrell-tavern-72000136/"}