Formerly: St. Patrick's Inn · Deer Park Hotel
Newark, Delaware · Founded 1851 · Building: circa 1851; later enlarged
A circa-1851 Newark tavern and former hotel built on the site of an earlier public house tied to Mason and Dixon lore and Poe legend.
The present Deer Park Tavern is a brick Greek Revival-era hotel building erected circa 1851 by James S. Martin at 108 West Main Street. It replaced an earlier wooden public house known as St. Patrick's Inn, which the Delaware Public Archives says had served travelers since the mid-18th century. The site has accumulated stories involving Charles Mason, Jeremiah Dixon, Edgar Allan Poe and George Washington, but those stories do not all carry the same evidentiary weight.
A wooden public house known as St. Patrick's Inn is documented in later local history as being owned by John Pritchard by 1750; Delaware Public Archives dates public hospitality at the site to the mid-18th century.
Source: Delaware Public Archives historical marker, "Deer Park Hotel"; The Review, "A Brief History of Deer Park Tavern," December 5, 2017
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon use St. Patrick's Inn while working on the survey that established the Pennsylvania-Maryland boundary.
Source: Delaware Public Archives historical marker, "Deer Park Hotel"
James S. Martin purchases the property, according to the Delaware Public Archives historical marker.
Source: Delaware Public Archives historical marker, "Deer Park Hotel"
Martin renames the business Deer Park after his farm, according to a University of Delaware student-history account; the exact relationship between the renaming, the fire, and the brick rebuild remains unresolved in the sources reviewed.
Source: The Review, "A Brief History of Deer Park Tavern," December 5, 2017
James S. Martin erects the core of the present brick building, named the Deer Park Hotel; the building was later enlarged.
Source: Delaware Public Archives historical marker, "Deer Park Hotel"; University of Delaware Digital Collections, "Deer Park Tavern (Deer Park Hotel)"
The Deer Park is described in the tavern's own history as having developed into a prominent hotel by this year.
Source: Deer Park Tavern, "About"
The Deer Park Hotel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: Delaware Public Archives historical marker, "Deer Park Hotel"; National Register reference number 82002341
The tavern's official site identifies Ashby Hospitality Group as continuing the Deer Park's food-and-drink operation.
Source: Deer Park Tavern, "About," updated February 15, 2025
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The Delaware Public Archives historical marker states that the first building at the site was a wooden public house called St. Patrick's Inn, that James S. Martin purchased the property in 1847, and that he erected the core of the present structure circa 1851. University of Delaware collections likewise date the building to 1851 and note later enlargement.
The Delaware Public Archives historical marker identifies Mason and Dixon as famous visitors to St. Patrick's Inn and states that they used the inn during their survey work.
The Deer Park's own history says Poe lectured at Newark Academy on December 23, 1843 and repeats the mud-and-curse story as something he was reputed to have done. A University of Delaware history article likewise labels the narrative legend. The present brick building was erected circa 1851, so Poe could not have visited the current structure in 1843.
The Deer Park's official history says that it is stated George Washington spent a night at St. Patrick's Inn, while a University of Delaware history article calls a Washington visit unconfirmed. No independent primary record was located in this review.
The reviewed sources characterize the Underground Railroad story as rumor or local tradition. No documentary evidence tying the cellar or site to a named conductor, freedom seeker, route, or contemporary account was located.
Delaware Public Archives states that the Deer Park Hotel was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1982; the National Register reference number is 82002341 and the listing date is May 7, 1982.
The current Deer Park Tavern building was built in 1747.
The present brick structure's core was erected circa 1851 by James S. Martin. The earlier wooden public house, St. Patrick's Inn, stood on the site from the mid-18th century.
Source: Delaware Public Archives historical marker, "Deer Park Hotel"; University of Delaware Digital Collections, "Deer Park Tavern (Deer Park Hotel)"
Edgar Allan Poe haunted or cursed the current Deer Park Tavern building in 1843.
The curse story concerns St. Patrick's Inn and is local folklore. The present brick Deer Park building dates to circa 1851, years after Poe's 1843 Newark lecture.
Source: Deer Park Tavern, "About"; Delaware Public Archives historical marker, "Deer Park Hotel"; The Review, "A Brief History of Deer Park Tavern"
The Deer Park basement is a documented Underground Railroad site.
The reviewed accounts treat the cellar story as rumor or oral tradition; no supporting documentary record was located.
Source: The Review, "A Brief History of Deer Park Tavern," December 5, 2017
St. Patrick's Inn definitely opened in 1747.
Delaware Public Archives dates public hospitality at the site to the mid-18th century. A University of Delaware history article notes uncertainty about when St. Patrick's Inn was built, although it identifies John Pritchard as owner by 1750.
Source: Delaware Public Archives historical marker, "Deer Park Hotel"; The Review, "A Brief History of Deer Park Tavern," December 5, 2017
The Deer Park endured because it remained useful to Newark in changing forms: hotel, meeting place, ballroom, polling location, barbershop, tavern and student gathering place. Its Main Street location beside the University of Delaware and its present operation by Ashby Hospitality Group keep the historic building active as a food-and-drink destination.
The core of the present brick Deer Park Tavern building was erected circa 1851 by James S. Martin and was first called the Deer Park Hotel. Delaware Public Archives and University of Delaware collections both distinguish it from the earlier wooden St. Patrick's Inn on the same site.
Yes. Delaware Public Archives says that public hospitality existed at the site from the mid-18th century and that the earlier wooden building was known as St. Patrick's Inn. The precise 1747 opening year often repeated online was not independently established in the sources reviewed.
The Deer Park's official history says Poe lectured at Newark Academy on December 23, 1843 and repeats a local story that he arrived at St. Patrick's Inn, fell in mud, and cursed the place. His lodging at the inn and the curse are unverified folklore, and the current brick building was not erected until circa 1851.
The Delaware Public Archives historical marker says Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were visitors to St. Patrick's Inn and used it while conducting the survey that established the Pennsylvania-Maryland boundary. This association concerns the earlier inn, not the present 1851 brick Deer Park building.
There is a local story that the Deer Park basement served the Underground Railroad, but the sources reviewed describe it as rumor or oral tradition. No documentary record identifying a person, operation, or event connecting the site to the Underground Railroad was located in this review.
Deer Park Tavern's official history identifies Ashby Hospitality Group as the operator carrying forward the tavern's food-and-drink service. Local reporting says longtime owner Leonard Reed sold the business to Ashby Hospitality and that Marc Ashby manages operations.
108 W Main St, Newark, DE 19711
(302) 369-9414
Check the current menu, hours and reservation options before visiting; the tavern is a busy University of Delaware-area gathering place.