Formerly: Captain's Log Restaurant · Green Frog Tavern
New Castle, Delaware · Founded 1996 · Building: 1674
A Day-family colonial-themed restaurant, opened in 1996 in a New Castle building reported to date from 1674 and later associated with cooper Abraham Jessop.
Jessop's Tavern opened in November 1996 at 114 Delaware Street in Old New Castle. The Day family named the restaurant for Abraham Jessop, a cooper who lived and worked in the building in 1724. The building itself is reported to date to 1674, but its age is distinct from the history of the present restaurant.
The building at 114 Delaware Street was constructed as a private residence, according to current New Castle historical reporting and the restaurant's historical account.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Jessop's Tavern in New Castle, Delaware" (2016); Delaware Online (July 30, 2024); Jessop's Tavern history page
Abraham Jessop, a cooper, lived in the building and operated a barrel-making business there.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Jessop's Tavern in New Castle, Delaware" (2016); Delaware Online (July 30, 2024); Jessop's Tavern history page
The property housed the Captain's Log Restaurant during the 1950s.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Jessop's Tavern in New Castle, Delaware" (2016); Delaware Online (July 30, 2024)
The address housed the Green Frog Tavern.
Source: Delaware Online (July 30, 2024); Jessop's Tavern history page
The Day family opened the current Jessop's Tavern and named it after Abraham Jessop.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Jessop's Tavern in New Castle, Delaware" (2016); Delaware Online (July 30, 2024); Jessop's Tavern history page
Jessop's Tavern was selected for a $50,000 Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Source: Delaware Online (July 30, 2024)
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The 1724 date refers to Abraham Jessop's residence and barrel-making business in a building reported to date from 1674. The site later returned to residential use and housed different commercial businesses, including Captain's Log Restaurant and Green Frog Tavern, before the Day family opened the present Jessop's Tavern in 1996.
Delaware Online reports that the Day family has operated Jessop's Tavern since November 1996, and an owner interview identifies Justin Day as the owner whose parents opened the restaurant.
The building's reported 1674 construction date is a property-history fact, not a founding date for the present restaurant. Jessop's Tavern opened in 1996, so it cannot use the building age as evidence of continuous tavern operation.
The restaurant appears in modern ghost-tour and local-folklore discussions, but this review did not locate a reliable, dated primary or journalistic source establishing an early haunted reputation, a named historic individual behind the stories, or a documented paranormal event.
Jessop's Tavern was founded as a public tavern in 1724.
The present Jessop's Tavern opened in November 1996. Abraham Jessop was a cooper who lived and ran a barrel-making business at the address in 1724; that history does not establish an eighteenth-century public tavern or a continuous business lineage.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Jessop's Tavern in New Castle, Delaware" (2016); Delaware Online (July 30, 2024); Jessop's Tavern history page
The Jessop's Tavern building was built in 1724.
The building at 114 Delaware Street is reported to have been built in 1674. The 1724 date relates to Abraham Jessop's occupancy and cooperage business.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Jessop's Tavern in New Castle, Delaware" (2016); Delaware Online (July 30, 2024); Jessop's Tavern history page
A colonial building date makes Jessop's Tavern one of Delaware's oldest continuously operating taverns.
The property housed different uses over time, including the Captain's Log Restaurant in the 1950s and the Green Frog Tavern in 1974. The current Jessop's Tavern operation began in 1996.
Source: Delaware Online (July 30, 2024); National Trust for Historic Preservation, "Jessop's Tavern in New Castle, Delaware" (2016)
Jessop's succeeds by turning a genuinely old New Castle building into a specific modern destination: colonial-inspired food alongside a large Belgian beer selection. Its appeal rests on a carefully presented historical setting, but the strongest version of the story is the accurate one—a 1996 restaurant in a building with layered residential, trade, restaurant, and tavern history.
Jessop's Tavern opened in November 1996 at 114 Delaware Street in New Castle, Delaware. The Day family named the restaurant for Abraham Jessop, a cooper who lived and ran a barrel-making business in the building in 1724. The structure is reported to date from 1674 and had earlier residential, restaurant, and tavern uses before the present operation.
No. Jessop's Tavern operates in a building reported to date from 1674, but the present Day-family restaurant opened in November 1996. Abraham Jessop's 1724 barrel-making business and the building's colonial age do not establish continuous public tavern service by the current business.
No evidence reviewed here shows that the current Jessop's Tavern operated as a public tavern in 1724. Abraham Jessop lived and worked there as a cooper, and the present colonial-themed restaurant was opened by the Day family in 1996.
This review did not identify an earliest reliable published report that Jessop's Tavern was haunted. Modern ghost-tour and folklore accounts associate the building with paranormal stories, but a dated primary or credible journalistic source is needed before assigning an origin date or specific historic ghost identity to the reputation.
114 Delaware St, New Castle, DE 19720
302-322-6111
The current restaurant serves colonial-inspired dishes and Belgian beers; its website posts daily lunch and dinner hours.