Formerly: Spread Eagle · Crooked Billet Inn · Barnsboro Hotel
Sewell, New Jersey · Founded 1776 · Building: as early as 1720
A Sewell restaurant in a building whose original cedar-log section stood by 1720 and was licensed as John Barnes's tavern during the Revolutionary era.
Barnsboro Inn operates as a restaurant and bar at 699 Main Street in Sewell, in Mantua Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. Gloucester County says the original cedar-log section was standing as early as 1720, when John Budd owned it. Modern accounts date John Barnes's application for a tavern license to March 19, 1776, although a county historical-sites page gives 1778 and the original court record needs review.
Gloucester County says the original section of the Barnsboro Hotel was built of squared cedar logs and was standing as early as 1720, when John Budd owned it.
Source: Gloucester County, New Jersey, Historical Sites: Barnsboro Hotel
Modern Barnsboro Inn history and a 2023 South Jersey profile say John Barnes petitioned the Gloucester County court to license his home as a tavern, with an obligation to provide beds and horse stabling for travelers.
Source: Barnsboro Inn, About page; Follow South Jersey, "Barnsboro Inn Serves Up Food and Drink With a Side of History," April 25, 2023
A local profile reports that a Theodore Roosevelt campaign rally was held at the building when it operated as the Barnsboro Hotel.
Source: Follow South Jersey, "Barnsboro Inn Serves Up Food and Drink With a Side of History," April 25, 2023
Barnsboro Hotel was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: National Park Service, National Register Information System, Barnsboro Hotel, NRIS 73001095
Al Scuderi became the new owner of Barnsboro Inn, according to a 2023 local-business profile.
Source: Follow South Jersey, "Barnsboro Inn Serves Up Food and Drink With a Side of History," April 25, 2023
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Gloucester County's historical-sites page identifies the original Barnsboro Hotel section as squared cedar logs and says it was standing as early as 1720, then owned by John Budd. The building's age is not evidence that a tavern operated there from that date.
The date is repeated by the current business, 6ABC, and a 2023 South Jersey profile that describes Barnes's petition to the Gloucester County court. Gloucester County's historical-sites page gives March 19, 1778 instead, so the original license record should be consulted before treating 1776 as fully documented.
The present operator and recent media coverage make the claim, but the building's 1720 date and the better-supported 1776 tavern-license date are not proof of uninterrupted tavern operation. The property has had several identities, later stopped offering overnight lodging, and has a reported Prohibition-era change in use; statewide comparative and continuity research is still needed.
The establishment's public-house lineage is tied to John Barnes's Revolutionary-era tavern-license petition. This supports describing it as a tavern founded during the war, but it does not independently prove that militia forces, patrols, George Washington, or other specific military figures used the building.
A 2023 South Jersey local-business profile reports that a campaign rally for Roosevelt took place at the Barnsboro Hotel in 1912. A contemporaneous newspaper account or campaign itinerary should be found before rating the appearance as documented.
A 2023 local-business profile says Scuderi became owner in late 2021, and a February 2026 6ABC segment identifies him as the inn's newest owner of four years. This supports current business ownership, though no property-deed record was reviewed.
John Croise received a Gloucester County tavern license in 1748, founding Barnsboro Inn.
The sources reviewed identify John Barnes—not John Croise—as the person who petitioned to license the house as a tavern. Modern accounts give March 19, 1776, while Gloucester County's historical-sites page gives March 19, 1778; no support was found for a 1748 Croise license.
Source: Barnsboro Inn, About page; Follow South Jersey, April 25, 2023; 6ABC, February 10, 2026; Gloucester County, New Jersey, Historical Sites: Barnsboro Hotel
Because its log section dates to 1720, Barnsboro Inn has operated as a tavern continuously since 1720.
Gloucester County describes the original log section as standing by 1720, but the tavern-license narrative concerns John Barnes in 1776 or 1778. Building age and public-house continuity are separate historical questions.
Source: Gloucester County, New Jersey, Historical Sites: Barnsboro Hotel; Barnsboro Inn, About page; Follow South Jersey, April 25, 2023
Barnsboro Inn is New Jersey's verified oldest continuously operating tavern.
The claim is a current marketing and media description, but the reviewed evidence does not document uninterrupted operation or a statewide comparative ranking. It should remain unresolved pending continuity and competitor research.
Source: Barnsboro Inn, official website; 6ABC, February 10, 2026; The Oldest Bar in Every State, July 7, 2016
The business remains a local restaurant and bar by making its layered building history part of its identity while serving a contemporary neighborhood audience. The site has carried several names, was expanded over time, and shifted away from overnight lodging toward food and drink; that history is more complex than a simple continuous-inn narrative.
Barnsboro Inn in Sewell occupies a building whose original cedar-log section was standing as early as 1720. Modern accounts say John Barnes petitioned the Gloucester County court for a tavern license on March 19, 1776, although Gloucester County's historical-sites page lists 1778 and the original record should be reviewed. The property later operated under names including Spread Eagle, Crooked Billet Inn, and Barnsboro Hotel before becoming the present Barnsboro Inn.
Barnsboro Inn is widely marketed as New Jersey's oldest tavern, but that statewide uninterrupted-operation title is not verified by the record reviewed here. The building's original section was standing by 1720, while the better-supported tavern-license claim dates to 1776. Those dates establish an unusually old property and tavern lineage, not by themselves a proven continuous statewide record.
Most modern accounts date John Barnes's tavern-license petition to March 19, 1776. The current Barnsboro Inn site, a 2023 South Jersey profile, and a 2026 6ABC segment use that date. Gloucester County's historical-sites page instead gives March 19, 1778, so the original Gloucester County court record is needed to settle the discrepancy.
A 2023 local profile reports that Theodore Roosevelt held a 1912 campaign rally at the property when it was called the Barnsboro Hotel. The account is plausible in the context of Roosevelt's 1912 campaign, but a contemporaneous newspaper report or campaign itinerary has not yet been identified to independently verify the event.
699 Main St, Sewell, NJ 08080
856-468-3557
The present business operates as a restaurant and bar in Mantua Township's Barnsboro section; check current hours and events directly with the venue.