View source for Black Horse Tavern (Canonsburg, Pennsylvania)

{{Infobox building
| name                = Black Horse Tavern
| image               = Black Horse Tavern Canonsburg.jpg
| caption             = Photograph of The Black Horse Tavern
| map_type            =
| map_caption         = Location within Pennsylvania
| latitude            = 40.2510
| longitude           =-80.1923
| iso_region          = US-PA
| coordinates_format  = dms
| coordinates_display = inline,title
| address             = [[Canonsburg, Pennsylvania]]
| owner               = Henry Westbay {{small|(founder)}}
| opened              = 1794
| demolished_date     = ca. 1910
| closed              =
}}
'''Black Horse Tavern''' was a historic tavern in [[Canonsburg, Pennsylvania]].

Black Horse Tavern was founded in 1794 by Henry Westbay, a native of [[Ireland]].<ref name=cumrine>{{Cite web| last = Crumrine| first =Boyd | title = History of Washington County, Pennsylvania with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men|chapter=Canonsburg Borough| work = | publisher = L. H. Leverts & Co.| date = 1882| page=601| url = http://www.chartiers.com/crumrine/twp-b-canonsburg.html| accessdate = }}</ref>  That year, during the early stages of the [[Whiskey Rebellion]], the rebels met at the Black Horse Tavern to plan attacks on federal forces.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Grefenstette| first = Jerry| title = Canonsburg| publisher = [[Arcadia Publishing]]| date = 2009 | pages = 7, 11| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=vr31Qfo34g0C| isbn = }}</ref>  Leaders of the rebellion intercepted federal mail between [[Philadelphia]] and federal troops at the tavern.<ref>{{Cite book| title = Canonsburg centennial, eighteen hundred two, nineteen hundred two| publisher = Pittsburgh Printing Company| date = 1903| location = | pages = 14| url =http://books.google.com/books?id=-0wVAAAAYAAJ}}</ref>

Some sources identify the Black Horse Tavern as the birthplace of the Whiskey Rebellion.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Canonsburg|editor=[[Philip W. Goetz]]|title =The New Encyclopaedia Britannica| publisher = [[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]| date = 1983| location = | page = 517|quote=In 1794, the Whiskey Rebellion (an uprising of farmers against excise tax on distilled liquor) began there [Canonsburg] at the Black Hose Tavern.}}</ref>  Other sources are less certain on the role of the tavern in the rebellion, ascribing the tavern's prominent role in the Whiskey Rebellion to "[[Legend|local tradition]]."<ref name=clouse />  By 1795, Westbay opened a "nailing business" at the location.<ref name=cumrine />  In 1814, he sold the tavern and moved to nearby Washington.<ref name=cumrine />

The tavern was located northwest of Daily House, on the road between Budd's Ferry on the [[Youghiogheny River]] to McFarlen's Ferry on [[Monongahela River]].<ref name=clouse>{{Cite book |author1=Jerry Allan Clouse |author2=Louis M. Waddell |author3=Bruce D. Bomberger| title = The Whiskey Rebellion: Southwestern Pennsylvania's frontier people test the American Constitution| publisher = [[Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission]]| date = 1994 | pages = 63| url = http://books.google.com/books?ei=NvyPTZ__N8Lm0gHV64jACw}}</ref>

The remains of the tavern were removed to make room for the new [[Canon-McMillan School District|Canonsburg High School]].<ref>{{Cite web| last = Herron, Jr.| first = James T.| title = Canonsburg School Board Minutes, Nov. 3, 1910 and Jan. 3, 1911| work = Jefferson College Times| publisher = Jefferson College Historical Society| date = May 2000 | url = http://www.chartiers.com/jeff/2000-May/Mccartny.html| quote=In 1910 the Canonsburg school board accepted his [Dave McCartney] bid to tear down what was left of the old Black Horse Tavern. The school district was planning to build a high school on the site. He signed the proposal with his mark. }}</ref>

{{Portal|Pittsburgh|History}}
==References==
{{commonscat|Black Horse Tavern (Canonsburg, Pennsylvania)}}
{{reflist}}

{{Whiskey Rebellion}}
{{Canonsburg, Pennsylvania}}
[[Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1794]]
[[Category:Taverns in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Canonsburg, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Whiskey Rebellion]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Restaurants established in 1794]]