An “Ordinary” was another name for a tavern where people could get refreshments and sometimes a bed for the night (often on an upper floor). The lot on which this Old Ordinary was built in French Colonial style was leased by Gabriel Peterson Vanhorn and Company in 1782 from the town's founder, Robert Young Stokes (1757-1784). Vanhorn was a partner in the first overland-stage line (1781) from Baltimore to “Lower Ferry” (an early name for Havre de Grace).

By 1802 this property was sold by Benjamin McCaskey to William McCaskey who sold it the following year to Commissioner William Coale (1755-1825). William McCaskey was “an assessor of the property of the inhabitants of the town” in 1803 and also served as the inspector of flour. In 1809, George Bartol (1779-1848) bought this from William Coale and may have built the Old Ordinary. Bartol was in town during the British May 1813 attack and it is considered probable that he ran a tavern and bakery in the building during the 1810s-1820s. Bartol is listed on the 1814 tax assessments as owning a one-story brick dwelling measuring 30’ x 18’, a storeroom, stable and four lots valued at $450. He and his wife, Mary Bayless Bartol (1785-1816), belonged to St. John’s Church.

In 1821, shortly after the death of his wife, George Bartol sold the property to Owen O’Brien. By 1846, however, an ownership dispute arose between Edward O’Brien et al. and John O’Neill et al. which was resolved by the court Trustee Henry W. Archer selling the property to Darius Wells. In 1886, however, George W. Wells and Harry and Susie Wells sold the property to Ellen Reddington (1837-1901). About 10 years later, this building, described as “a two-and-a-half story brick building with frame/back buildings,” was sold by Ellen Reddington to Elizabeth J. Davis (her daughter). (The same deed also transferred ownership of the Susquehanna Hotel on Market Street from Reddington to Davis.)

Sanborn Insurance Maps show a restaurant here for many years, selling groceries in 1899 and still under the ownership of Elizabeth Davis. In 1901, Davis sold the property to Patrick W. Hollahan (1868-1921) who, along with his wife Rachael, ran a Rooming House with groceries here. When Patrick died in 1921 he bequeathed the property to his wife.

Rachael Hollahan sold the property in 1927 to Peter Pasqualini (1885-1954) and his wife, Lucia, who appear to have run a tavern on the first floor. It served as one of only a few local taverns where African Americans were allowed (see 1936 photo), but the Depression years were not kind. In 1937 ownership reverted to The New Home Building & Loan Association, which then sold the tavern to George Barrett (1881-1965) and his wife, Olivia. The Barretts owned it for about 10 years and may have continued to operate the tavern.

William B. Griggs (b. 1915) and Van Hazel Grimes (of Grimes Funeral Home in Philadelphia) owned this property from 1949 to 1953, when Grimes sold her interest to Griggs. It was under Griggs’ ownership that the building became a dry cleaners and laundromat and changed drastically in appearance and function. William Griggs sold the building in 1979 to Thomas Milton Carroll III who owned it for about six years during which he cleaned out lots of junk and machines and then ran a business on the first floor while living upstairs. He sold it to Allen J. Fair of A & M Properties LLC in 1985 who had restored and renovated several buildings in the city and wanted to take this on.

Allen Fair and his associates did a thorough restoration of this building in 1986 and saved it from further deterioration—it had become hardly recognizable as the Old Ordinary. When they were finished, the upstairs was accessed by an outside stairway and a spiral stairway lead to an extension of the offices in the loft. In 1988, the second floor was occupied by Multitech Construction Management Corporation (of which Volney Ford was President) and they opened their offices to the 1988 Annual Candlelight Tour.

From about 1994 to 2004, this was the office of BCH Realty and was bought by The Old Ordinary Joint Venture LLC in 2004. This property received an award from the Havre de Grace Historic Preservation Commission in 2010. In September 2015, however, a new owner, Ronnie and Theresa Smith, did some exterior renovation work in which they replaced the original decorative valance with straight board. Old photographs of the laundromat show the valance with straight board but it had the decorative board in its original tavern days.

This property is now owned by Theresa A. Smith of Perryville and appears to be an investment property.

County Records
Built 1814. 2378 sq ft, commercial, office building, 4920 sq ft lot.