{{Use American English|date=August 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Parker Tavern | nrhp_type = | image = Parker Tavern Reading MA.jpg | caption = Parker Tavern in 2008 | location = 103 Washington Street,<br/>Reading, Massachusetts | coordinates = {{coord|42|31|14.75|N|71|6|24.18|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Massachusetts#USA | area = | built = 1694 | architect = | architecture = Colonial | added = August 19, 1975 | mpsub = Reading MRA (AD) | refnum = 75000286<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref> }}

The '''Parker Tavern''' is a historic house museum in Reading, Massachusetts, United States. Built in 1694, it is the oldest extant structure in Reading.<ref name="Parker Tavern History">{{cite web|url=http://www.friendsofparkertavern.org/New%20History.htm|title=History of Parker Tavern|publisher=Friends of Parker Tavern|access-date=1 May 2015}}</ref> The saltbox was built by Abraham Bryant, a farmer and blacksmith, and Ephraim Parker operated a tavern on the premises in the 18th century. It has been a local history museum since 1923, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.<ref name="nris"/>

==Description and history== The Parker Tavern is located on the south side of Washington Street, west of Main Street and a short way south of the Reading MBTA station. It is set near the back of a level, grassy lot, and faces west. It is a {{frac|2|1|2}}-story wood-frame structure, with a side-gable roof, wooden-shingle siding, and a granite foundation. The front facade is four bays wide, with two windows to the left of the entrance and one to the right. The door and window surrounds are plain. The building has an integral leanto at the rear, giving it a classic New England saltbox appearance.<ref name=NRHP>{{cite web|url=https://mhc-macris.net/details?mhcid=rea.117|title=MACRIS inventory record and NRHP nomination form for Parker Tavern|publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts|access-date=1 May 2015}}</ref>

In 1693 Abraham Bryant, a blacksmith, acquired the land on which the house stands, and was taxed a substantially larger amount the following year, suggesting the house was built by 1694. His heirs remained in the house until the 1730s, after which it was owned by Ebenezer Nichols, a tanner prominent in the civic affairs of the town.<ref name=NRHP/> Ephraim Parker, the great-grandson of Thomas Parker, who was one of the founders of Reading,<ref>Eaton, Hon. Lilley. ''Genealogical History of the Town of Reading, Mass.,'' pp. 314, 698–700, 704, Alfred Mudge & Son, Boston, 1874.</ref> was the next owner, living here until his death in 1804. Parker was licensed to operate a tavern on the premises between 1770 and 1785. He served in the Battle of Lexington and Concord at the start of the American Revolutionary War, and hosted as a prisoner of war Colonel Archibald Campbell, whose regiment had been captured aboard ship in Boston Harbor in 1776. Campbell remained at the tavern until 1778, when he was exchanged for Ethan Allen.<ref name=NRHP/>

For most of the 19th century the house was owned by the Sweetser family.<ref name=NRHP/> It was acquired by the town in 1916, and sold to the Reading Antiquarian Society in 1923 for a nominal sum. The society has since operated the property as a historic house museum, generally open on Sundays from 2 to 5&nbsp;pm between May and October.<ref name="Parker Tavern History"/>

==See also== *List of the oldest buildings in Massachusetts *National Register of Historic Places listings in Reading, Massachusetts *National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMcS0nioYeM Film of Parker Tavern interior and exterior] *[ https://www.parkertavern.org/ Parker Tavern Official Website] *[http://www.facebook.com/ParkerTavern/ Parker Tavern Official Facebook page]

{{Reading, Massachusetts}} {{NRHP in Reading, Massachusetts}}

Category:Taverns in Massachusetts Category:Taverns in the American Revolution Category:Drinking establishments on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1694 Category:Saltbox architecture in Massachusetts Category:Historic house museums in Massachusetts Category:Museums in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Category:Houses in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Category:Buildings and structures in Reading, Massachusetts Category:National Register of Historic Places in Reading, Massachusetts Category:1694 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay