The 1824-built Dunham Tavern Museum is a time machine back to the days when Cleveland was a village.
Currently decorated with antiques from the 1840s to 1890s, the house first served as both a tavern and a home for Rufus and Jane Pratt Dunham along the bustling Buffalo-to- Detroit stagecoach trail.
It still hosts events and more to this day. And while it’s been open to the public since 1936, it just might not be the oldest building on its original site in the city, as the museum claims, or in Cuyahoga County, as The Plain Dealer claimed in a Sept. 19, 2012, online story.
According to the city’s Landmarks Commission, the federalist-style house built by Jeremiah Gates in Old Brooklyn was built circa 1820, four years before Dunham Tavern.
"Our organization has always stated that the Gates house was built in 1820,” says Jeff Verespej, executive director of Old Brooklyn Community Development Corp. “For us, it’s a stated fact. We don’t have any building permits.”
And according to records and maps from the Historical Society of Old Brooklyn, the house is still on its original site. As for The Plain Dealer’s county claim, the Moses Warren house in what’s now Shaker Heights was built in 1817, according to Cuyahoga County property records. There’s no indication the house was moved from its original site.
“As you can imagine, records aren’t perfect,” says Verespej.
Status: Undecided
Read More: Click here to read the full list of 30 Myths That Define Cleveland
CLE Myths: Dunham Tavern Museum
Is the 1824-built former home and tavern the oldest building in Cleveland?
