Throw One Back With Some History At CT’s Oldest Bar

Beer fans will come from far and wide to our Hat City On Tap event Saturday at the Danbury Ice Arena. But the next time you want to get a little history lesson while having a cold one, you may want to make a little road trip to the Griswold Inn in Essex.

The Griswold Inn is one of the oldest continuously-running taverns in the country, having first opened their doors in 1776.  Appropriately enough, George Washington is supposed to have had dinner and drinks at the Griswold, as have Albert Einstein and Mark Twain according to Fox News.

The Griswold's website claims that the place was a "temperance hotel" for a short time during prohibition, but that seems to have been a claim made with a wink and a nod as the rum runners on the Connecticut river had easy access to unload booze on the docks.

TV fans will recognize the building from the 60s-70s horror soap, Dark Shadows as the Collinsport Inn. They've got formal dining rooms, as well as a tap room, where you can grab a pint of their own Revolutionary Ale for $5. So, the next time you're heading to the casinos, Mystic or the beach, make a side trip, and belly up to the same bar where George Washington once stood! The Griswold Inn is at 36 Main Street in Essex.