The Hungerford Resolves
Hungerford Tavern was the logical place to meet in 1774 when patriots from the lower part of Frederick County gathered to protest British attempts to tax the colonies and to express their support of Boston citizens whose harbor was blockaded after the Boston Tea Party of 1774.  Taverns and tavern life had changed little since the 1750s, but the political climate of the colonies had changed dramatically, fueled by Britain's need to raise revenue for its territorial gains following victory over the French in 1763.  Hungerford’s was strategically situated and had a public space for the fateful gathering.  On June 11, 1774, the assembled colonists passed what became known as the Hungerford Resolves, Rockville's contribution to the events that led to the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution.  Learn more and read the Hungerford Resolves.

Early in the Revolution on September 6, 1776, the Maryland Constitutional Convention passed a bill dividing Frederick County into smaller governmental units.  The northern section became Washington County, while the southern part was named for General Richard Montgomery who died leading the American attack on Quebec on December 31, 1775.

Soon after, the crossroads settlement at Hungerford Tavern was designated the seat of the new local government.  In May 1777, the first court sessions opened in the tavern, then operated by Leonard Davis.  The Court met there until March 1779, when it moved into a home converted for court sessions.

City of Rockville.   Rockville,
Portrait of a City

What Happened to Hungerford Tavern?
In an advertisement, Davis described his tavern as "26 by 20 feet, two rooms, and a very convenient bar-room, on the lower floor ... a kitchen adjoining the dwelling-house (and) three good well-furnished rooms on the lower floor, with an exceeding good fireplace, very convenient for the reception of travelers …"  Davis sold the tavern to Joseph Wilson, who ran the business with his wife Sarah, Lawrence Owen’s widow, until his death in 1791.  By that time the settlement, now called  Montgomery Court House, boasted three or four other taverns.

In the 1880s, the tavern site was purchased by Wilson's
granddaughter, Susan Russell.  Although local tradition maintained that the house on the property was the revered colonial tavern, that could not be authenticated in the early 1900s.  In 1912, the building was razed to make way for a Baptist church and parsonage.  In recent years, archaeological and documentary evidence indicates that Susan Russell's  home at Washington and Jefferson Streets was indeed the site of Charles Hungerford's tavern.

Peerless Rockville, Charles Brewer Collection

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