Stacy's Tavern Museum

Stacy’s Tavern Museum is an award-winning restoration of an authentic 1840′s wayside inn which is owned by the Village of Glen Ellyn and operated by the Glen Ellyn Historical Society. It stands in its original location on Geneva Road. The tavern was built by Moses Stacy and his wife Joanna in 1846. The construction was mainly wood on a foundation of native boulders. The building was acquired by the Village in 1968. Restoration began in 1971. The museum is open today through the joint efforts of the Village of Glen Ellyn and the Glen Ellyn Historical Society. It is open for tours by volunteer docents. Visitors will see what life was like in the 1840′s, for the Stacy family and for their guests.

The Stacy’s son, Philo, remembered:
In the early days, my father operated a sort of tavern for the land-seekers and travelers, charging them fifty cents for supper, lodging, and breakfast, and two horses to hay. It took several days to go from Stacy’s Tavern to Chicago. Farmers with their products and settlers heading west were welcomed.

As St. Charles road was improved, stagecoaches could make the trip, carrying mail and passengers. The first stagecoach in this area was Dr. Temple’s, which made the trip from Chicago to Galena tri-weekly. Passengers paid five to six cents per mile. Fresh relays of horses waited at taverns along the way. The coaches traveled at the rate of six miles per hour with four horses as a team. Stagecoaches accommodated 9 - 12 passengers with mail carried on the flat tops of the coaches.

Exhibits

Docents will be offering tours on Saturday, Sept. 17th from 1:00 - 4:30 p.m. The last tour begins at 3:45 p.m. There is parking at the Glen Ellyn History Center at 800 N. Main St. in Glen Ellyn as well as directly behind the museum. There is a wheelchair ramp at the back of the building, although only the first floor of the museum is accessible. Tours last 45 minutes to one hour.

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