Submitted by Leona Baker, Historical Society of Salisbury Township

Whether traveling west from Philadelphia or north from New Castle, immigrants and visitors alike needed to pause for rest and meals on the long journey. Enterprising individuals inclined toward serving those travelers lost no time in providing accommodation. Taverns and inns served distinct social classes, from no more than a tiny room where three strangers might have to sleep in the same bed to establishments that were lavish and elaborate for the times and were meant for the upper ranks of society. With a blacksmith and stables handy, they offered animal care as well and could be found every few miles along the major routes.

Benjamin West, Pennsylvania son of an innkeeper, became a noted portrait painter in the 1700s, but began his career painting signs. His work appeared on tavern signs in Philadelphia and westward. Among them, in 1771, was that of the Three Crowns, a noted hostelry that stood near White Horse on the King's Highway in Salisbury Township.

When the Revolutionary War began, the Three Crowns signboard became a prime target of hostile bullets from the Continental Army. One day, the Tory proprietor came close to sharing the bullets. Fearing a more serious fate, the tavern keeper, a frugal man, had the back side of the sign repainted to signify his loyalty to the fledgling national effort. Traditional lore claims that when one or the other warring side was nearing, the owner just turned the sign over and hosted whichever thirsty army marched by. Both sides of the Three Crowns/Waterloo Tavern signboard feature musket-fired bullet holes along with the lettering.

Whether the Tory owner moved away when the British lost the war is not known. However, the Three Crowns/Waterloo sign was apparently removed from the tavern in White Horse in 1816. It showed up a few miles east of that village at the Waterloo Tavern, kept by a relative of the old landlord. The Waterloo Tavern was originally the Bull's Head; its owner was a former Revolutionary officer. To appeal to the Patriot side and perhaps to honor the downfall of Napoleon, those three crowns were hidden from view permanently behind the newly painted Waterloo Tavern.

Little more is known about this two-sided sign. Not until 1890 does it show up in records again. Research by Brett Snyder, vice president of the historical society, has discovered that eventually the sign was acquired by W.U. Hensel, along with the Hat Inn and Lion Hotel 1812 signs. In 1947, it was sold to Stevens' House in Lancaster, where it was displayed until 1960 when that hotel closed. All three signs then graced the wall of a motel on Oregon Pike until it closed in 1989. Snyder said, "After that, the trail runs cold."

Only the keen eye of Randy Good of White Horse saved the Hat Inn sign. He found it, ready for the trash collector, on a property near Lesal Road. Nothing has been discovered of the Lion's Hotel sign so far. We continue to research these signs.

Select information was provided by Alice Morse Earle's 1900 book "Stagecoach and Tavern Days" and Snyder.