While working on a stubborn patch of grass in our backyard that never seems to grow the way I want it to, I stumbled upon something far more intriguing than a lawn issue. We live in a very old house, built back in 1799, with a unique past—it once served as both a tavern and a doctor’s office, essentially a one-stop shop for whiskey and leeches.
On this particular day, I grabbed a shovel to dig a little deeper into the soil, hoping to fix the problem area, but instead hit something solid. After another scoop, I noticed what looked like the edge of a brick or a stone. As I kept clearing away the dirt, a granite post began to emerge, rising from the ground as though it had been there forever, waiting patiently to be seen again. My first reaction was to wonder if I had unearthed a grave marker, which sent a slight chill down my spine.
But as I took a closer look, I saw a hole in the post—clearly where a ring had once been attached. That’s when it hit me: this was a hitching post, most likely from the late 1700s. Once I made that connection, the setting began to make perfect sense. If this house had once been a tavern, there would have been travelers arriving on horseback, tying up their animals while they went inside. As I continued to clear away the surrounding area, I saw the outline of a stone circle forming a shallow pit around the base of the post, which made me think it was originally a drainage feature. But then it occurred to me that it might’ve been something else entirely—a water trough. After all, horses need to drink too. If the tavern was a regular stop for people traveling through, they’d need to care for their horses just as much as themselves. The post would have been used to secure the reins, and the trough would’ve offered water for the thirsty animals. I could almost picture the scene: a man in breeches dismounting his horse, tying it to the post, giving it a quick brush-down, and then heading inside to consult with the town doctor about some nagging injury or to enjoy a stiff drink.
That hitching post, now surrounded by overgrown grass, would’ve once been just a part of everyday life. The deeper I dug, the more history I uncovered. I came across rusty metal fragments—possibly pieces of the original ring hardware or remnants of the trough supports. Beneath those were tightly packed stones and a layer of bricks, forming a sturdy foundation that had been hidden underground for generations. The craftsmanship suggested it was built to endure time, and that’s exactly what it had done. The entire structure felt like it had been preserved in a time capsule, simply waiting to be found again.
As tempting as it might be to repurpose such a find into something modern, like a birdbath or a decorative garden statue, we’ve decided to leave it just as it is. This piece of history deserves to be preserved, not reimagined. I plan to clean it up, clear a path leading to it, and maybe even install a small plaque explaining what it is and what it once meant to the people who used it. Most people find old soda cans, broken tools, or bits of pipe when they dig in their yards. But somehow, buried just beneath the grass, we discovered a genuine piece of the 1790s—a hitching post and water trough that had been quietly hiding for centuries. It’s not just a relic; it’s a reminder of another time, and it’s staying right where it is, a silent but powerful link to our home’s incredible past.
