Property Record
8310 STAGECOACH RD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Berry Haney Tavern |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 4789 |
| Location (Address): | 8310 STAGECOACH RD |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Cross Plains |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 7 |
| Range: | 7 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 11 |
| Quarter Section: | NE |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | SW |
| Year Built: | 1840 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1977 |
| Historic Use: | tavern/bar |
| Architectural Style: | Other Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. ALLEGED OLDEST BUILDING IN DANE CO PHOTOS IN ICONOGRAPHY PLACE FILE "CROSS PLAINS" [Date Cnst:(DANE CO HIST. MARKER)] Berry Haney, an early pioneer in the Cross Plains area, built one of Dane County's oldest extant buildings: Haney Tavern. Built of native stone, the tavern was erected for Haney in 1840 by the Birds, the builders of the state's first capitol. A historic marker on Highway P, erected by the Dane County Historical Society in 1973, describes the stagecoach inn. The property on which the tavern stands reportedly was sold to Charles B. Haney on March 15, 1842. Fire nearly destroyed the original building prior to the 1920s, as evidenced by blackened boards on the floor and the roof. During the early 1920s, two additions were built to the house. From 1976 to 1982 the building served as a rental farmhouse and then stood empty. Though structurally sound, the building had been badly neglected and was not livable when it was purchased in 1984. The new owners made many improvements. Early Dane County history indicates that there "was much drinking and carousing before an open fire in the basement of the old stone inn [Haney Tavern]" and that "bricks now fill the fireplaces above and below but the chimney remains to suggest blazing fires and rough hospitality." The building and its adventuresome first owner have been widely documented in several books that describe early live and historic places in Dane County. |
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| Bibliographic References: | "WI MAGAZINE OF HISTORY" (JUNE 1925) Brandonburg, O.D. "Chief White Crow's Burial Place Near Cross Plains and Something About the Haneys and Other Pioneers of that Region." The Madison Democrat, Sept 14, 1919. Town of Cross Plains Architecture and History Inventory. October 2009. Prepared by Mary Jane Hamilton. Vera Riley, Cathy Fjelstad, and Ken Esser. Prepared by Landscape Research, Ltd. for the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, Dane County: A Guide to the Rural Landscape, 1978. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |