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player ready...Moses and Joanna Stacy were the second settlers to come to Glen Ellyn in 1834. They had a farm and a log cabin in the area that is now the north edge of town. But they wanted more.
Moses Stacy wanted both a home for his family and a business. And so he built Stacy’s Tavern, a wayside stagecoach inn at the corner of what is now Geneva Road and Main Street, Glen Ellyn, and in that he got two for one.
The two-story, revival-style home, built of wood on a foundation of native boulders, not only housed their family but other settlers and travelers — those continuing west and those traveling east to markets in Chicago. A trip from Stacy’s Tavern to the city could take at least two days and probably more.
The restored structure now serves as a museum for the Glen Ellyn Historical Society and it is the only stagecoach inn in Illinois on its original site, says Karen Hall, executive director of the society.
Inside the simple structure, volunteer docent Pauline Frank explains that “travelers paid 50 cents for breakfast and dinner, hay for two horses, and a place to stay for the night.”
Dinner was probably a stew and coffee that Joanna Stacy cooked on a state-of-the-art cast-iron stove with recessed burners. Men gathered in the Tap Room for checkers, cards and possibly a drink, although Moses Stacy didn’t drink alcohol, says Frank. Women socialized in the front room or parlor.
Upstairs, the women shared one bedroom, the men shared another, and the Stacys had a private room with a closet, something uncommon in most homes at that time.
The Stacys added a dining room in 1846, and business was good. Historians believe the place was packed to capacity on many nights, with people sleeping on the floor. But in 1849 the railroad came through Glen Ellyn a mile south of the inn, and the fledgling town moved south with it, taking Stacy’s Tavern off the beaten path. The Stacys continued to live there.
Stacy’s Tavern is now owned by the Village of Glen Ellyn and operated by the Glen Ellyn Historical Society, said Hall. The village purchased the property in 1968. Soon after, volunteers from the society began the restoration.
In 1974, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1976 it was opened to the public as a museum, a Glen Ellyn tribute to the American Bicentennial.
The historical society’s annual Tavern Day is the busiest time of the year at Stacy’s Tavern, according to Hall. The family event from 1 to 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 25 includes live farm animals, corn shelling, blacksmith demonstrations, strolling musicians, pioneer games and more. Children can also learn to do laundry 1840s-style.
The tavern is open for tours from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Cost is $5 for adults, $3 for students age 6-18. Children 5 and under are free. Go to www.GlenEllynHistory.org.
Joan Cary is a freelance writer.
Stacy’s Tavern Museum
What’s in a name? Named for early settlers Moses and Joanna Stacy.
Building age: Built in 1846.
Original use: Two-story family residence and stagecoach inn
Current use: Historical museum owned by the Village of Glen Ellyn
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Did you know? Only five travelers could legally share a (full-size) bed.