The Newlin-Johnson House, also once known as the Nine Tun Tavern, was built on land purchased by Nathaniel Newlin from William Penn in 1682. Nathaniel Newlin III built a stone house on the corner of the Wilmington-West Chester Pike, formerly known as the King’s Highway, in 1732 that passed to Pennsylvania politician Nathaniel Newlin IV, who served in the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, state assembly, and state senate. He converted the building into an inn for the nine tun wagons traveling down the pike. It served as a public inn from 1748-1776 as the Nine Tun Inn, and through the early 1800s as Newlin’s Tavern. The name “Nine Tun Tavern” is a reference to the massive wagons traveling along the highway carrying goods between Delaware and Pennsylvania.
The tavern was purchased by the William Johnson family, the namesake for the historic area “Johnson’s Corner,” in 1832, who then closed the business and instead enlarged the house to become his home in 1840. William Johnson owned the largest farm in the Beaver Valley area, and represented the top quartile of wealth distribution in the township. It remained a private residence and farm until the 1950s.
The building fell into disrepair, but underwent an extensive rehabilitation in the early 2000s. Several organizations used this building such as Delaware County’s Brandywine Conference and Visitors Bureau and the Mickey Vernon Sports History Museum, before becoming the present day offices for PA Representative Craig Williams.
Concord Township Historic Resource #16
