The earliest business establishments in teh frontier were the "ordinaries," combination saloons and taverns built by many an industrious merchant along the pioneer highways. Several of these taverns were operated in western Orange County. In the court record of 1754 it was: "Ordered that country made brandy be sold in the several Ordinaries in this Country at 3 shillings Proclamation Money." A license was granted in 1763 to Hugh SMITH to operate a tavern on Stinking Quarters near Alamance Creek, and Robert HUNTER opened a tavern the same year in his home on Haw River. Two other "ordinaries" in this section, the "Dutchman's" at Alamance, and "MEPERN's" near the present town of Mebane, were mentioned in 1752 by the Moravian Bishop SPANGENBERG. Located at every important fording place or ferry crossing, these taverns served farmers who gathered there to exchange "the news" and travellers who sought food and shelter. An English humorist after touring North Carolina in these years wrote a description of the "ordinary" which probably fitted those in Alamance/Orange County. "In order that the nature of a Carolina ordinary (or, as it ought properly to have been termed, extraordinary) may be acurately apprehended," he wrote, "I will venture to depict one . . . There were mostly log huts, or a frame weatherboarded; the better sort consisting of one story and two rooms; the more numerous have no internal division . . . One corner of the room would be occupied by a "bunk" containing the family bed; another by a pine-wood chest, the family clothes press and a larder; a third would be railed off for a bar, containing a rum keg and a tumbler. The rest of the furniture consisted of two chairs and a table, all in the last stages palsy. . . "You might always know an ordinary . . . by an earthen jug suspended by the handle from a pole. . . or a score of black hogs luxurating in the sunshine and mud before the door. . . If hunger or gatigue compelled you to remain, a little Indian corn for you horse, and a blanket on the hearth, with your saddle for a pillow, to represent a bed, were the most you could obtain. In summer a man would sometimes vary his enjoyment by stretching himself outside near the pigs . . . "As to edibles, wheather you called for breakfast, dinner, or supper, the reply was one -- eggs and bacon . . . No sooner were you seated that the house dog . . . would arrange himself beside you, and lift his lank, hungry jaws expressively to your face. . ." (Bernard, John. Retrospections of Americca, New York, 1887) Few homes in those days could accomodate an overnight guest, and travel was difficult and expensive . . . The roads were alway in bad condition, and in rainy or winter weather they became impassable. The county court, which not only tried legal cases but also acted as a governing body of the county, appointed overseers who were responsible for the upkeep of public roads, and requied those who lived near streams to build and maintain public bridges. The court in 1753: "Ordered that Francis DAY, Alexander MEBANE and Robert ERWIN be appointed Commissioners of the road for the old trading path, from the county line to Haw River and thence to the Great Alamance." Cheers, from Wisconsin, Carol ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange GENDEX at http://www.gendex.com/gendex/ has over 1400 databases on line