McGillin’s Olde Ale House – Philadelphia’s Oldest Continually Running Tavern

Philadelphia, PA Historic Tavern

    • Richard @ The Bewildered Brit
      January 23, 2010 at 4:26 pm

      Oooh, that looks lovely! One thing I miss from Britain is bars/pubs that have been there for centuries, so this looks right up my alley!

    • rick
      January 24, 2010 at 7:22 am

      Great post!

    • ep
      January 26, 2010 at 2:50 pm

      Great post indeed! One of the great ‘intelligent meatmarkets’ (aka pick up joints) my girlfriends and I enjoyed during our clubbing days of the ’60s. You needed your PLCB card to visit McGillin’s…they were strict! Glad you enjoyed it.

    • roadsidenut
      January 26, 2010 at 10:16 pm

      I think the sign at the Center for Architecture is the original:
      http://www.agilitynut.com/09/10/mcgillins.jpg

      What’s at the bar now must be a replica, right?

      • Mod Betty / Retro Roadmap
        January 28, 2010 at 12:29 pm

        Hello DJS- I’m doing some digging to find out when exactly the current sign was installed, and will post when I found out. Len Davidson of Davidson Neon says the sign he has at the Center for Architecture is from the 40’s or 50’s, but isn’t sure how new/old the current one is. Sure is lovely, regardless! Thanks for swinging by the Retro Roadmap, your site is an inspiration and a wonderful resource!

        • Mod Betty / Retro Roadmap
          January 28, 2010 at 7:50 pm

          Here’s the official word about the current sign hanging at McGillin’s from none other than Chris Mullins himself:

          “Thank you Beth for writing such a nice piece on McGillin’s! Our current sign is approximately 7-8 years old – it is an exact replica of the prior sign. Unfortunately the replacement was necessary as it was having trouble handling the wear and tear of the city – we are so happy though that it made it into Len’s collection – I hope you had a chance to see all his signs – they are really awesome!

          If you have any other questions, we are always willing to help out!
          All the best, and thanks again!”

          Now that that has been clarified for me I’ll change the wording on the post, thanks for picking up on that Agility Nut! I just realized that some of the confusion on my part came from the fact that the post cards of their sign are of the older sign from Len Davidson’s collection, and not of the sign hanging outside the building.

    • roadsidenut
      January 29, 2010 at 2:52 am

      Thanks for getting to the bottom of this. Thiw seems to be a trend lately: businesses replacing their original signs with replicas. Thankfully, this is a very nice one. And even better that the original has been preserved and is on public display.

      • Mod Betty / Retro Roadmap
        January 31, 2010 at 9:35 pm

        I can indeed see the wear and tear on the original sign, glad they liked it so much the replicated it, as opposed to getting something generic and modern.

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