Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

It says a lot about our priorities that some of our earliest businesses were taverns. From practically the first moment the pioneers set foot in what would later become Clinton County, they established local places to go and drink. With which I can sympathize; if I were going to settle a new and unexplored land, I’d sure as hell want to make sure I could get a beer or two.

Put in context, it actually makes a lot of sense. Back in those days, it wasn’t as if you could just order anything online, or pop over to Wal-Mart for a few items. So taverns became the sort of centralized locations for whatever the settlers needed. They acted as stores, hotels, and other businesses over the years.

The Myers Tavern, probably the oldest in the area, was like that. It stood somewhere near the Susquehanna River on what is now the far east end of Lock Haven, and it was run by John Myers. It was also one of the earliest ferry stations in the area, when Lock Haven hadn’t been founded yet, and this was still a part of Northumberland County. If you wanted to cross the river without swimming, you stopped at the Myers Tavern to get on the ferry.

The next one was the Mahan Tavern, which later became known as the Prendible Building. Alexander Mahan built his tavern in 1819 on present-day South Jones Street, where Carter Towers now stands. It was just downhill from the old Great Island Cemetery, and it acted as hotel, store, and post office. It was briefly known as the White Horse Tavern, and town founder Jerry Church met the mother of his child there—Jerry had a baby with Maria Mahan, Alexander’s daughter, who died soon after.

Sometime around 1828, a tavern called the Old Clinton House was built at the corner of present-day Jay and Water Streets. (It gets a bit difficult describing this in terms of today’s landmarks when you’re going back two hundred years.) Now, I’m getting some of this from old newspaper articles, and I have to say I have no idea where they got the name “Old Clinton House,” as nothing was old in those days and neither Lock Haven nor Clinton County had been founded yet.

And it’s impossible to discuss the old taverns of Lock Haven without mentioning Barker’s Tavern. Barker’s Tavern was run by Robert Barker, and it stood on present-day Water Street. (Right between the Old Clinton House and the Myers Tavern, actually.) In the early days of the county, it served as the courthouse. When Clinton County was founded, the first three commissioners rented out most of the rooms in the tavern for government work. So the bar part was still operational, but the courtroom was right across the hall. (When you’re arrested, this gives “behind bars” a whole new meaning.) Upstairs were the offices for the commissioners, clerk of courts, register and recorder, and prothonotary. There were three commissioners, and one other guy—Philip Krebs served all those roles in the early days.

The Barker’s Tavern Courthouse served for a year or so, until the Jerry Church courthouse was built on land donated by our city founder, about where Robb Elementary now stands. Later on, a newer courthouse was built where the Old Clinton Tavern used to stand. So our county government has involved roughly three courthouses and two bars, which is an interesting statistic.

So, in those days, it was possible to take the entire county government downstairs and get him drunk for under a dollar. And then, if he was disorderly, you could just march him across the hall for a trial. There’s a certain amount of efficiency to that.