June 11, 1774 – Revolutionary Protest by Maryland Patriots at the Hungerford Tavern

Hungerford Tavern in Rockville, Maryland (just north of Washington, D.C.) was constructed in 1750 and named after one of the early owners, Charles Hungerford. The inn had a convenient location on the road between what at the time were two of Maryland’s main population centers: Georgetown and Frederick. The WETA history blog reports that a number of Founding Fathers came to stay and/or eat there, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry. The Washington Post adds that the Marquis de Lafayette supposedly stayed there, as did President Andrew Jackson and Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Carol Stuart Watson ©

On June 11, 1774, this day in history, the tavern hosted a meeting of Marylanders to discuss Britain’s new taxes and Britain’s punitive actions against Boston, Massachusetts subsequent to the “Boston Tea Party,” such as closing the Boston Harbor.

The discussion resulted in five declarative statements known as the Hungerford Resolves, which were printed in the Maryland Gazette. They included a boycott of goods from Great Britain and the West Indies until Parliament repealed the closing of the harbor and “the right of taxation given upon permanent principles.”

You can read all of the Resolves here.

The Washington Post notes that the exact location of the Hungerford Tavern is not known today: “Most people think it stood at South Jefferson and Washington streets, but archaeological work there hasn’t provided the expected results: not enough broken wine bottles and clay pipes.” The structure that probably was the tavern — and that by the early 20th century was called Russell House — was demolished in 1913 to make way for a Baptist church and parsonage.