{"nrhp_refnum":"82003621","name":"Tavener-Sears Tavern","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mount Sterling","county":"Muskingum County","state":"OH","lat":39.956810500000074,"lon":-82.15045763999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2-story brick tavern with a wood-frame east gable end on Main Street in the village of Mount Sterling, Muskingum County, Ohio, built in 1841 along the National Road. The builder is unknown.","why_significant":"It is nominated as an early tavern on the National Road and one of the very few brick structures from the settlement period in Mount Sterling. It is one of only three known taverns or stage stops left on the Muskingum County stretch of the old pike. Its early keepers, John Tavener and Robert Sears, are documented as innkeepers in census records.","narrative":"Built in 1841 on Main Street in Mount Sterling, Ohio, this 2-story tavern served travelers on the National Road, which ran through the village from the 1820s. The walls are common-bond brick, but the east gable end is wood frame covered in weatherboard, which suggests the brick building was meant to be extended eastward, though that never happened. The symmetrical three-bay facade has a paneled door and flared brick lintels over the second-story windows, features typical of the Federal style. Tax records show a frame and brick house erected in 1841, and John Tavener, a Virginian, bought the lot that year. Census records list both Tavener and later owner Robert Sears as innkeepers, and an 1866 atlas shows the site as the Lee House. Most buildings in the village are simple frame structures, and only two other brick buildings remain there. This is one of just three known surviving taverns or stage stops on the pike in Muskingum County.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as unoccupied, in fair condition, on its original site and altered.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.235157-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82003621.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990765","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/muskingum-county/tavener-sears-tavern-82003621/"}