The Publick House

ADDRESS	On the Common, Route 131, PO Box 187 Sturbridge, Massachusetts 01566-0187
TELEPHONE NUMBERS	1-508-347-3313 1-800-PUBLICK
FAX NUMBERS	1-508-347-5073 Publick House 1-508-347-1246 Lodging Office
WEB SITE/E-MAIL	www.publickhouse.com info@publickhouse.com, lodging@publickhouse.com, sales@publickhouse.com
ACCOMMODATIONS	126 Lodging Rooms - Air-conditioned, Direct dial telephone AAA - 2 diamonds, MOBIL - 3 stars, ABBA - 3 crowns · Publick House Historic Inn - 17 rooms with one double bed or one queen bed, private bath, television - smoke free. · Chamberlain House - 6 Suites with separate living room and bedroom, one queen size bed, private bath, television. · Country Lodge - 96 rooms with two double beds, private bath, private balcony, television. Travel Agent, FIT and Group Rates Available
DINING	Two restaurants on property · Publick House - serving traditional Yankee fare: breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. Four-star award winning cuisine · Ebenezer’s Tavern - serving lighter more casual Yankee fare: lunch Monday through Friday and supper seven days a week Publick House Bake Shoppe - a real 18th-century bakery, located in the lower level of the Publick House.
EXECUTIVE STAFF	Owner: H&C Services Corp. General Manager: Michael Glick Assistant General Manager: Connie Foster Dining Services Manager: Tracey McCormick Rooms Division Manager: Michelle Rondeau
LOCATION	The Publick House is one quarter of a mile from the junction of the Boston-New York and Springfield Providence highways, with entrances on each route. It is one mile from Exit 9 on the Massachusetts Turnpike. Within easy reach of these main arteries, the Publick House is far enough off the beaten path so that its quiet beauty and charm is not spoiled by the rush of traffic. Travelers say that it is the only place to eat on a trip between New York and Boston. Centrally located for New England travelers, it is in the proximity of several metropolitan area and well situated for stopovers on longer journeys.
COLONEL CRAFTS - FOUNDER OF THE PUBLICK HOUSE	In Revolutionary days, the tavern keeper was all things to all men in the New England towns which clustered around Boston. He was the Banker who traveled to Boston, Providence and even to New York, returning with his wagon full of goods and supplies and his head full of facts and rumors. He conveyed both to the eager villagers with impartiality, hospitality and spirits. As a tavern keeper, he met and talked with travelers who he put up at his hostelry, thus maintaining his contact with the outside world. Such a man was Colonel Ebenezer Crafts, who founded the Publick House in 1771. The Colonel attended Yale University where, tempering the academic with the practical, he learned to lift a barrel of cider and drink from the bunghole. Crafts trained for the ministry but, receiving no call, settled in Sturbridge, Massachusetts where shortly thereafter he founded the Publick House. At his tavern, Colonel Crafts served travelers such drinks as Whistle-Belly Vengeance in double and triple bowls, which held two and three quarts, respectively. This potent brew consisted of sour household beer, simmered in a kettle, sweetened with molasses, filled with brown-bread crumbs and served piping hot. Besides his occupation as a host and tavern keeper, the Colonel was deeply interested in educational matters. He offered to found an academy in Sturbridge, but his offer was rejected because "student life would be a disturbing factor in the town." The Colonel was not a man to brook refusal, and he later joined with Colonel Davis in purchasing the Lopez House in Leicester which became Leicester Academy. In 1791, a year after he planted the magnificent elm trees which shade the present-day Publick House and Sturbridge Common, the Colonel moved to Vermont. There, he founded the township of Craftsbury which was divided into 144 farms, or lots, each one-half mile square. Eleven Crafts families owned 22 of these lots. Even after Colonel Crafts departed for Vermont, the Publick House was well patronized. According to tradition, all the keepers of the house had an interest in the stage which traveled the Worcester and Stafford turnpike and passed through Sturbridge. This interest, together with the avails of the house, made the Publick House a profitable venture. The farmers found it a good market for their produce and the public enjoyed a high standard of hospitality. In 1937 the Publick House was restored and modernized, and in 1944 it became an important part of the Treadway organization. In the words of Duncan Hines, "they have done a wonderful job of restoring here. The old inn of 1771 still remains, the long dining rooms, taproom with hand-hewn beams and great fireplaces. The food is good, not only the typical baked beans and boiled dinners but the roasts and games of New England." The coaching door which provides the main entrance to the inn is one of the finest examples of its kind. Inside, the huge brick fireplaces in the Taproom and Pineapple Room were first put to use in pre-Revolutionary times, as were the hand-hewn beams in the Barn.
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES	200
MEMBERSHIPS:	Listed in the National Register of Historic Places New England Innkeepers Association Mass Lodging Association Massachusetts Restaurant Association American Bed & Breakfast Association Tri-Community Area Chamber of Commerce Sturbridge Area Tourist Association Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau Worcester County Convention & Visitors Bureau National Tour Association American Bus Association