Red Lion

The Red Lion (c.1737) Inns and taverns have been identified by trade signs bearing rampant lion since the Middle Ages. Red Lion Inns were especially popular in England and America during the colonial period because of their association with the red lion of England, which appears in the royal coat of arms. The stately brick Red Lion Inn in Williamsburg was built by innkeeper Francis Sharp, in the early 1700s. Sharp sold the property to tavern keep Henry Wetherburn in 1742. The tavern was later acquired by wigmaker Walter Lenox who sold it to John Crump in 1789. By the early 1800s, court records had begun referring to the property as the Union Tavern. The Red Lion was reconstructed on its original foundations.

Order Drawings Previous Page