Game of the Name

At the end of this 1976 Courier article, readers were told of the kick off effort to save the Inn. Money was first raised to do exterior restoration in time for the Bicentennial. Eventually, on August 20, 2000, the Inn was moved – as the article suggests – “to a prominent place among the treasurers of our American heritage.”

From the King of Prussia Courier, January 1976

By Nancy Peters

At the start of every year almost since the Courier began, tradition dictates that we play “The Game of the Name” and relate how King of Prussia got its name.

If you’ve guessed the disheveled old Inn pictured above, you are right.

As the bicentennial year of 1976 gets underway my script seems to read the same: Just as I have decided that the popular vote is going to dictate shootin’ her down like an old war horse, something happens and she kicks up her heels for another year.

I went by a couple of weeks ago and, lo, three workmen were going at her roof, shoring up against winter’s blasts. To me, an old Inn history buff of 22 years, that meant that someone among the Inn’s devoted following still has not given up hope. And indeed there are still a few diehards hereabouts who will never despair of the arrival of a fund-bearing courier before death should overtake the venerable edifice.

THE LEGEND

The historical landmark which has given it name to the flourishing community surrounding it, was an inn noted for its good cheer long before Washington and his army encamped at Valley Forge in 1777-78.

Although the earliest record at the Court House in Norristown shows the date 1718, it is believed that the inn was built about 1709. It was named by its owner, a native of Prussia, in honor of Frederick 1st who had, a short time before, established himself as King of Prussia.

As with all inns and taverns in the colonial period, a sign was hung outside with a likeness of the King on horseback. This creaking sign was long remembered by residents of the Great Valley, and many legends concerning it were handed down through the generations that followed.

The Inn was remodeled and enlarged in 1769 by Daniel Thompson, a free Quaker who, because of his devotion to the American cause, fought through the eight years of the Revolutionary War.

Reliable records place “old Herman deVriest” as proprietor of the inn during the Revolution, and particularly during the encampment at Valley Forge. He was host to both American and British officers and many intrigues and plots were hatched within the walls of the old inn.

The two and a half story stone structure has some of the original amenities: Mantels; doors and hinges; the old stair rail and a stone sill hollowed to a depth of several inches by the footsteps of two centuries. An ancient fireplace, large enough to roast an ox, with its huge crane, massive beam and old oven, is still in existence.

On the second floor, reached by a steep narrow flight of stairs, is the room in which Washington and his Mason officers held lodge meetings and where Lafayette joined the Masonic order to please Washington. Here it was that as early as 1774 the Mount Joy Society for Recovery of Stolen Horses and Detection of Thieves convened regularly and continued to so for nearly 150 years.

The inn was a polling place and a center of debate upon current affairs . . . furnishing food, drink and comfort to the weary traveler for over 200 years.

In the first part of the present century, the inn operated as a restaurant, finally closing its doors in 1952 when the then new Route 202 highway firmly cut off all access to its hospitality.

The King of Prussia Inn, so closely associated with our country’s struggle for freedom, deserves a prominent place among the treasurers of our American heritage.

Editor’s Note: Jack Shain, of Gulph Mills, the prime mover and doer of all matters concerning the Inn, has just called with this reminder for readers:

“Please don’t forget the important meeting this coming Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 8 p.m. at the old Roberts schoolhouse on Croton rd.”

Said Shain: “We must cherish our children’s future and preserve this historic lore for their sakes . . . ”

Representatives from all Upper Merion organizations, clubs and township officials are expected to attend.

An important announcement will be made at that time, says Shain, regarding the Inn.