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According to the The Maryland Commission for the Celebration of the Bicentennial of the Birth of George Washington, it has been definitely established that Washington, journeying between Baltimore and Philadelphia by way of Old York Road, did stop at Slade’s Tavern, located on “My Lady’s Manor” for breakfast on June 6, 1773.
“My Lady’s Manor” was once the hunting and camping grounds of the Piscataway Indians, a southern branch of the mighty Susquehannock tribe. In 1667, Charles Calvert, the third Lord Baltimore, passing through this area on a trip north to make peace with the Indians, decreed that he would reserve 10,000 acres of this fair land for himself. In 1713, he made a “gift” of this land to his fourth wife and declared that it would be called “My Lady’s Manor” in her honor.
William Slade built and conducted the Old Slade’s Tavern sometime in the year 1746. The original tavern, soon found too small for the business it attracted, was enlarged to a log structure set upon a foundation said to have been three feet thick. It was a story and a half high, with three dormer windows looking out from the front roof to the North with a long porch running the length of the frame house and covering its two front entrances, one into the bar room and one into the ballroom.
The Tavern was situated directly on the Old York Road, which formed a part of the great Eastern Highway - a post road that led to York, PA, thence to Philadelphia and New York. Its exact site is now the front of the Inn. It was about a quarter mile east of St. James Church and almost immediately in front of the present-day Manor Tavern.
Slade’s was more than just a Tavern. It was a community center, a congregating point for the people of that whole section of the country. All the noted belles and beaux of the “Manor” dined and danced there. Elections were held there. The famous sale of Confederate property was held there in 1882, and public notices were posted there.
In the War of the Revolution, the soldiers who were assigned to guard the store of munitions in St. James Church, made the Tavern their loafing place and during the Civil War, the draft for that section of the country was held there. Washington and Lafayette are said to have been guests at Slade’s during the Revolution and to have occupied a small log house which stood on the property about three hundred yards to the north of the Tavern.
Slade’s Tavern was handed down from father to son or daughter through the family until approximately 1886, when William Thomas Slade, the last of the family to own it, sold it to Mr. Jacob Pearce. It was torn down in 1900 to make room for the present Victorian home now located on the property.
About the Innkeepers
Philip and Nancy had the dream of opening a bed and breakfast ever since they were married at a local B&B in 1995. Philip, a professional soccer player and graduate of Calvert Hall, owns a mortgage business in the area. Nancy has loved horses all her life and is the owner of a local tack shop and deli. Together, with the adventuresome nature of all entrepreneurs, they opened Slade’s Inn in early 2007 after several years of renovation and decorating dedication.
Both share the love of skiing, and their original dream was a bed and breakfast with a skiing vista in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. But in 2002, when seeing the ‘for sale’ sign in front of an old Victorian farm house, they knew this property was destined to be a bed and breakfast. It took about 4 years, but their vision of what this property could be came true.
Philip and Nancy welcome you to historic Slade’s Inn. ‘Revisit an Era’, enjoy the countryside, its beauty and attractions, and bathe in the warm hospitality that is Slade’s Inn. |
