The Stage at Byrd's Tavern
Artist
Jacob Getlar Smith
Year1939
Classification
painting
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions52-3/4" x 133"
Credits
Commissioned through the Section of Fine Arts, 1934 - 1943
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
- This mural depicts the scene at the inn maintained by John Byrd. The center of public hospitality in colonial Salisbury was Byrd's Tavern and it was here that the overland stagecoaches received and discharged passengers and secured fresh horses. The inn stood on the site of the present courthouse, Wicomico County Courthouse, built in 1878. In the foreground the stage is taking on passengers who had stopped at the tavern overnight on their trip. We see the hitching of fresh horses, loading the stage, and the driver taking the bag of mail. In the background, the inn, in front of which stand the host and his wife bidding farewell to their guests. The time is early 19th century.