Lunch at Century Inn

I’ve always wanted to stop here, ever since I lived in the Pittsburgh area, many years ago. Finally, when driving through the area for a family visit a couple weeks ago, I decided to surprise my wife and stop for lunch.

Century Inn was opened in 1794 – when it was called, “Hill’s Tavern”. You can eat and/or stay here for the night. The Inn is on the National Road – the first improved road in the United States built by the federal government. It was built between 1811 and 1837, and was 620 miles long. Part of the National Road, know as the Braddock Road, was used by General Braddock and Colonel George Washington at the start of the French and Indian War – and is also where General Braddock is buried. It’s a bit confusing, but it sounds like the actions of George Washington and General Braddock during the 1750’s, was the start of the larger and more complex 7 Year’s War in Europe. The initial conflict stemmed from the desire to control trade routes and travel into the middle of the United States. At that time the French and English were competing for control of the center of the country – and this route was a main path from the populated eastern cities to present day Pittsburgh, and west from there. In any case, this is a very interesting bit of pre-colonial American history.

I’ve provided some links above if you want to read and discover more, but here’s a few photos from my visit to the Century Inn (sorry, I’ve gotten a little sidetracked)…

If you like history, and you’re ever in western Pennsylvania, you should visit Scenery Hill, and the Century Inn. Our lunch was very delicious, and we enjoyed discovering first hand some of the history of this place!