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As anyone who’s ever braved the crowded sidewalks of 2nd Street on a Saturday night could tell you, there’s no shortage of places to drink in Old City. But long before the recent rebirth of nightlife in the historic district, people were hoisting glasses and making merry along those same streets.

Visitors to eighteenth-century Philadelphia often remarked on the city’s vibrant taverns, where casks of spirits, beer, and wine flowed freely. And more recently, scholars have studied Philly taverns as important sites in the American Revolution. I’m not just talking about the “City Tavern,” the (reconstructed) colonial ale house on 2nd Street that was a favorite hangout of the First Continental Congress. Peter Thompson, a historian at Oxford University who earned his PhD at Penn, chronicled the development of Philly’s tavern culture in his 1999 book Rum Punch and Revolution.

Dozens of other smaller (and less fancy) taverns were scattered throughout the Revolutionary-era city. The currently-shuttered “A Man Full O’ Trouble Tavern” at 2nd and Spruce is a more typical example of an 18th century pub than the austere City Tavern. The basement or a back ell housed kegs of booze and a kitchen, the upper floors were packed with beds that guests were expected to share with strangers, and during the waking hours, the main room(s) on the first floor were crowed with male patrons. Tavern-goers drank alcohol, imported tea and coffee, and filled the rooms with a haze of tobacco smoke.

These taverns were more than just bars; you could think of them as a combination of a restaurant, library, youth hostel, coffee shop, gossip website, and business boardroom all in one. As the city matured, the taverns became more diversified”"some were mainly the haunts of sailors and dockworkers, others, like the now-demolished “London Coffee House” at Front and Market, became a popular place for negotiating business deals. During the debates over taxation and representation that preceded the Revolution, taverns were political hotspots, where patrons would read newspaper articles and broadsides aloud. Historians like Thompson identify taverns as critical incubators of the Revolution”"they offered Philadelphians a place to learn about the larger political issues of the day and to enter into heated, boozy debates over the future of Britain’s American provinces.

So perhaps those hordes who stumble down the alleys of Old City every weekend are actually participating in a great, centuries-old tradition that helped to make this nation free and independent. And if you don’t quite buy that, I recommend trying a few pints of the oak-barrel-aged Yard’s Thomas Jefferson Tavern Ale (part of their excellent “Ales of the Revolution” line and available at the City Tavern and many other fine establishments) and then see if you find my argument more convincing.

Want some more info on exploring Historic Philadelphia? Sure you do. Visit www.gophila.com/history for a plethora of places to see and things to do.

Historic Philadelphia
www.gophila.com/history