28 May 1783: Jacob Bowman to George Fravel, Sr.
27 Mar 1818: George Fravel, Sr. to Jacob Reamer
31 Mar 1839: Jacob Reamer to Jacob Huddle
3 May 1845: Barbara, widow of Jacob Huddle, deceased, to Charles Welsh
23 Jun 1879: Charles Welsh to Mary Catherine Fountain
26 Oct 1892: Mary C. Fountain to Annie Shockey
23 Feb 1907: Jacob Shockey, husband of Annie Shockey, deceased, to Lucy L. Shockey and H.R.C. Shockey
23 Apr 1909: H.R.C. Shockey and Lucy L. Shockey to J.I. Triplett
17 Oct 1912: J.I. Triplett to Sallie Funk and Turah Funk Locke
1 Jul 1935: Turah F. Locke to Burgess E. Nelson
This building was constructed of logs and planks which were laid one on top of the other to make a solid wall. Some of the rooms were plastered, others had side walls and ceilings of beaded pine planks. It occupied the entire frontage of the lot and has now been destroyed to make way for a gasoline station (1937).
Historical SignificanceOriginally a tavern, which was the stopping place of many noted Americans who took part in the building of the nation. It was one of the best known taverns in the Shenandoah Valley in antebellum days. It is a matter of tradition among the present generation (1937), based upon well known facts to the earlier inhabitants of the town, that Henry Clay and a long list of notables in the earlier days were guests at the old tavern. Among them being the Breckenridges of Kentucky, General Andrew, who stopped here en route to Washington, and President Fillmore, who once held a reception here.
It is also said that the Indians en route to the unsettled southwest pitched their teepees and camped on the lot in the rear of the tavern.
This place was first called "Reamer's Tavern", then "Welsh's Tavern" and later "Shockey Flat."
At one end of the tavern was the old Tap Room where the outstanding citizens of the community and nearby sections of the county congregated to hold an open forum of current affairs.
The entire building was destroyed and a filling station stood in its place in 1937.
Source: Virginia W.P.A. Historical Inventory Project, 1937
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