An Ordinary is what we later called a saloon and now a bar.  The owner sold alcohol by the drink.  To obtain the license he usually needed two local citizens of upstanding character to sign that he would keep an orderly place. Betty S. From: "Lori " <america4821@myactv.net> Conrad Walters was given a license to open an Ordinary. This was in Wheeling, WVA in the 1850s. Is it like a gathering place to drink alcohol? What is an Ordinary?