Formerly: The Tavern at Abingdon
Abingdon, Virginia · Founded 1994 · Building: 1779
A 1779 Abingdon tavern building with a long series of later uses became the present-day Tavern restaurant in 1994.
The Tavern occupies a log-and-stone building constructed in Abingdon, Virginia, in 1779 as a tavern and inn. Across the next two centuries, the structure served many different purposes, including a post office, general store, bank, bakery, cabinet shop, barber shop, antique shop, private residence, and reportedly a Civil War hospital. Max Hermann opened the present restaurant in 1994, and Josh Fuller operates it today.
The log-and-stone building now occupied by The Tavern was constructed as an inn and tavern in Abingdon.
Source: Clio, The Tavern historical entry; WCYB, 'The Tavern in Abingdon is inside one of the oldest surviving buildings west of the Blue Ridge,' February 19, 2026.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, the building served a series of uses that local histories identify as including a post office, general store, bank, bakery, cabinet shop, barber shop, antique shop, and private residence.
Source: Clio, The Tavern historical entry; WCYB, February 19, 2026; Plate Stories tour interview with Josh Fuller, July 31, 2020.
Local histories describe the building as having served as a makeshift Civil War hospital, and surviving attic charcoal markings are said to mark 12 beds. The precise wartime use, patients, and associated deaths require archival verification.
Source: Clio, The Tavern historical entry; WCYB, February 19, 2026; Plate Stories tour interview with Josh Fuller, July 31, 2020.
Local attorney Emmitt F. Yeary acquired the historic building and began restoration work.
Source: Clio, The Tavern historical entry.
Max Hermann opened The Tavern as a restaurant after the restoration period.
Source: Clio, The Tavern historical entry; The Tavern Facebook post, May 1, 2026.
WCYB identified Josh Fuller as owner and operator of the active Tavern restaurant and bar.
Source: WCYB, 'The Tavern in Abingdon is inside one of the oldest surviving buildings west of the Blue Ridge,' February 19, 2026.
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Clio, WCYB, the restaurant, and local history coverage consistently date the structure to 1779 and identify it as Abingdon's oldest building. The formal historic-preservation nomination or Virginia Department of Historic Resources record was not retrieved in this review, so the claim remains plausible rather than documented.
The present restaurant began in 1994. Local histories record numerous intervening uses of the building, including non-hospitality businesses and a private residence, so the 1779 building date cannot be presented as uninterrupted operation of the current restaurant or tavern business.
Local history sources and the current operator describe Civil War hospital use, and the upper floor retains charcoal markings said to identify 12 beds. No wartime hospital record, medical ledger, or National Register documentation was reviewed here, and a local public source disputes whether this building or adjacent Washington House served that function. The claim remains unresolved rather than proven.
No chemical testing, medical record, or reliable preservation study was found verifying that dark floor stains are human blood or connect them to wartime hospital use. The story should be treated as folklore, not physical evidence.
Local history accounts repeat the visitor stories, but the sources reviewed do not provide guest registers, letters, travel diaries, contemporary reporting, or other primary documentation that places either man at this specific building.
The building has a documented public haunted reputation: regional media, haunted-place listings, and ghost-tour material repeat reports of a woman called the Tavern Tart, footsteps, lights, and other phenomena. Those sources document the reputation and the stories, not the existence of ghosts or the historical identity of the woman.
A February 2026 WCYB report identifies Josh Fuller as owner and describes him operating The Tavern as a restaurant and bar. This supports business ownership and operation, not ownership of the underlying historic real estate.
The Tavern restaurant has operated continuously as a tavern or dining business since 1779.
The 1779 date belongs to the historic building's original tavern and inn era. The structure later had multiple non-hospitality uses, and the present restaurant business was opened by Max Hermann in 1994.
Source: Clio, The Tavern historical entry; The Tavern Facebook post, May 1, 2026.
The attic has proven bloodstains from Civil War patients.
No testing or documentary source located in this review confirms that any floor stains are human blood or connect them to Civil War hospital use.
Source: Smoky Mountain Living, 'Abingdon, Virginia: The Most Haunted Town in the Smoky,' October 2018; Plate Stories tour interview with Josh Fuller, July 31, 2020.
A Civil War nurse named Agnes is the documented ghost of The Tavern.
The reviewed ghost lore more commonly describes an unidentified woman of the evening called the Tavern Tart. No reliable historical source was found establishing a real woman named Agnes, a Civil War-nurse identity, or the underlying murder story.
Source: Smoky Mountain Living, 'Abingdon, Virginia: The Most Haunted Town in the Smoky,' October 2018; Virginia Haunted Houses, The Tavern listing.
The Tavern survived because the 1779 structure repeatedly found new uses rather than being abandoned when its original tavern role faded. Its later functions made it a working part of Abingdon rather than a frozen relic, and restoration efforts led by Emmitt F. Yeary in the 1980s prepared the building for Max Hermann's 1994 restaurant opening. Current operator Josh Fuller continues to use the building's irregular history—rather than an invented uninterrupted business line—as the restaurant's real distinction.
The Tavern occupies an Abingdon building constructed in 1779 as an inn and tavern, while the present restaurant business began in 1994. The historic structure later served many non-restaurant functions, including a post office, general store, bank, bakery, cabinet shop, barber shop, antique shop, and private residence. Josh Fuller now operates The Tavern as a restaurant and bar at 222 E Main Street.
No verified evidence establishes The Tavern as Virginia's oldest continuously operating bar or tavern business. Its building dates to 1779 and is one of the oldest surviving structures west of the Blue Ridge, but the property had many non-hospitality uses and the present restaurant began in 1994. The register therefore does not certify a statewide or western-Virginia oldest-operating-bar title.
The earliest haunted-reputation source located in this review is a 2018 Smoky Mountain Living feature that reported stories of a woman of the evening said to haunt the second floor and other alleged activity at The Tavern. That article records an already circulating local tradition; it does not prove the 2018 article was the first time anyone reported the stories. No earlier newspaper or archival source was identified in this pass.
Local histories and the restaurant's current storytelling say The Tavern served as a makeshift Civil War hospital, and upper-floor charcoal numbers are said to mark 12 beds. However, the wartime medical records and preservation documentation needed to confirm the building's exact hospital role were not found in this review, and at least one local account disputes the claim. The history should be treated as plausible but unresolved.
WCYB identified Josh Fuller as owner and operator of The Tavern restaurant in February 2026. The evidence reviewed does not establish whether Fuller also owns the historic building, so the record describes him as the restaurant's owner and operator rather than the confirmed real-estate owner.
222 E Main St, Abingdon, VA 24210
(276) 628-1118
The Tavern operates as a dinner-focused restaurant and bar; confirm current reservations, dinner service, brunch, and holiday hours directly before visiting.