Mahone's Tavern

Mahone's Tavern, built ca. 1796 across from the Southampton Co. courthouse, was a center of political and social activity for more than a century. Known as Kello's Tavern early in the 1800s, it served as a refuge for citizens and as an encampment for soldiers at the time of Nat Turner’s insurrection in 1831. Fielding J. Mahone operated the tavern from 1841 to 1855. His son, William Mahone, a railroad magnate, Confederate major general, leader of the biracial Readjuster Party, and U.S. senator, lived here as a youth. John J. Kindred, a five-term congressman from NY, lived here as a child in the 1860s. Also known as Howard’s Hotel, the building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.