Dewees Tavern / St. Luke Cemetery
Welcome Center
Dewees Tavern is the Welcome Center for the Upper Providence Township, Trappe and Collegeville Boroughs region of the Route 113 Heritage Corridor Tour.
Step back in time from a museum to a roadside inn to a pre-Revolutionary War dwelling. This stone building stood here when the Continental Army encamped in Trappe during the fall of 1777. It was then the residence of a bellows maker, an important supplier to the local blacksmith trade. Successive owners enlarged the house, which reached its present size around the 1820s. For seven decades (1829-1899) the Dewees family operated it as a hotel. Located along a major road, it served as a stagecoach stop for travelers en route between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. Like other village hotels or taverns, the Dewees Tavern became the center for important civic gatherings -- a polling place, a local court and political rallies. In 1840 General William Henry Harrison brought his Old Tippecanoe campaign to this inn!
St. Luke's Reformed Church, which owns the adjacent burial ground, eventually acquired the Dewees property. In 1964 the newly formed Historical Society of Trappe leased space in the historic structure, renovating and restoring it in time for our nation's Bicentennial celebration.
Stop in and see the Historical Society's exhibits or attend lectures that emphasize the heritage of the area. Learn more about the history of Trappe, Collegeville and the Perkiomen Valley in the museum's library.
