#6518 - Beck-Ringland Tavern, North Bethlehem Township, PA - 4/11/2026

Beck-Ringland Tavern, Scenery Hill, PA

In 1811, following an act under President Jefferson, the country started what became the National Road, starting in Cumberland Maryland, reaching Wheeling, West Virginia in August of 1818, with subsequent legislation eventually extending it through Ohio and Indiana to Vandalia, Illinois, some 70 miles east of St. Louis. The road replaced footpaths and wagon trails with a 66-foot wide "stone-surfaced, cambered roadway, masonry bridges, culverts and cast-iron mileposts that set standards for antebellum turnpikes." (Wikipedia) 

Of course privately and locally funded services followed along the highway's 620-mile path, with the most essential of all these being taverns, established approximately one every mile, where weary passengers of Conestoga wagons and stage coaches could rest and refresh, along with their horses and livestock. And as was the norm in colonial and early independent America, these taverns often became important community hubs, centers of politics, legal proceedings, trade, and sometimes armed rebellions.

Beck-Ringland Tavern, Scenery Hill, PA

Among these, in the community of Hillsboro, PA, later Scenery Hill, was a tavern erected and opened by bridge builder James Beck in 1827. The building was two stories, primarily brick, constructed in the rectangular Federal style, "like all National Road taverns" (NRHP), facing and directly adjacent to the National Road. There it offered travelers "lodging, meals at around 12.5 cents each, and stabling for horses in spacious yards typical of roadside inns." (grokipedia)

Beck ran it for only approximately one year, before selling to George Ringland, who would run it until 1840. From that point, a series of owners, many documented by Thomas Searight, ran the business to approximately the end of the century, as the mode of use evolved. 'In a nutshell, The National Road began transporting first wagons and then stagecoaches in the early-to-mid 1800s, and then took a pause when trains became popular, and then enjoyed a revival once the automobile became a thing, in the early 1900s.... the rise of the automobile restored it, and by 1926, most of the original National Road and its extensions were renamed “US Route 40."' (Cole) 

Beck-Ringland Tavern, Scenery Hill, PA 

It transitioned to a private residence probably sometime around the turn of the century, and by the next turn of century had fallen into considerable disrepair. Despite being designated a historic residential landmark and farmstead by the Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation, and being named to the National Register of Historic Places, by the early 21st century not only was the front porch rotting, walls crumbling and roof blown off, but it was threatened to be condemned with the crumbling central brick chimney presenting an ongoing health hazard by randomly sending bricks flying onto the street below.

It was to the great fortune of the place that an ambitious, history-minded local had had his eyes on the place since the 1990s, and was informed by a friend a couple decades later that "Your building is for sale."  Brian and Kathy Allen had not only taken on the prodigious challenge of restoring the old tavern, but would soon find another project as well, having spotted a 200-year-old cabin under multiple layers of subsequent siding and deciding to move it away from the busy highway to his 28-acre farm in Scenery Hill:

'The former field biologist is dissecting the cabin, log by log, and is determined to give it new life on his expanse in North Bethlehem Township. Allen plans to move all of the wood to his property within a month before beginning the rebuild, near a forested area on his land. “I want birds and deer at my front porch, not tanker trucks,” Allen said.'  (Observer-Reporter)

Brian was described as "a hydroponic farmer and much more. He also works with the Greater Washington County Food Bank, and is a baker of bread and cookies, daytime overseer of the kids and a renovator of buildings." (Observer-Reporter). He and Kathy swung a deal in 2014 to take over the old tavern and the hardware store next door. A while many special services needed to be hired during the project, the bulk of the work was done by Allen himself, with help from friends and his "team," of three young sons. Scrolling through tavern's Facebook site history provides some of the details of the immense project that would eventually result in the tavern opening in October of 2023.

The tavern grounds have seen considerable use as a sort of events center through several years preceding the completion of and official tavern opening. Prominently among these, at least for the historically minded, is probably becoming a key stop in the annual National Road Pike Days Festival. The stage and patio out back would seem to provide an especially appealing setting for these arts, musical, and historical events, in addition to the beautifully restored and redecorated rooms inside. He's also creating an even larger venue in the old hardware store next door, now Scenery Hill Brewing.

Beck-Ringland Tavern, Scenery Hill, PA
Owner Brian Allen

Of course due to its historical significance, the tavern was among the highest priorities in my bar to-do list from the moment I learned of it. But frankly I had no idea how great the interior looks now, as you can see from the photos much better than I could ever describe them. On my visit I was lucky enough to catch Brian, who was kind enough to fill in some of the stories and history of the tavern and its restoration. One anecdote I recall was workers finding under some old floorboards an old leather child's shoe between two cat skulls. Brian explained that through early European traditions and into the 1800s in the U.S., these shoes and cat remnants were buried in the walls and floors to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune to the premises.

Mostly just seeing the place, but also talking to Brian and the bartender that day gave me a number of reasons to be coming back. Of course I need to bring Trista to see it, and it would be fun to swing through during the National Road Festival. In addition, I want to be seated by the fire on a cold winter day, and on the patio with music playing on a warm summer evening. In addition to seeing some of their live music on Saturdays, I'd like to drop in on their Open Mic night on Thursdays, and at some point sample the dinners coming out of their Beck-Ringland Tavern Scratch Kitchen.

Standard hours for the tavern are Thursdays and Fridays 4-10pm and Saturdays 2-10. Highly recommend.

'Sufficient is it for the present subject that the Cumberland Road was the most important "stream of human history" from Atlantic tide-water to the headwaters of the streams of the Mississippi. Its old taverns are, after the remnants of the historic roadbed and ponderous bridges, the most interesting "shells and fossils" cast up by this stream. This old route, chosen first by the buffalo and followed by red men and white men, will ever be the course of travel across the mountains." - Archer Butler Hubert, Historic Highways of America, Vol. 10

2206 E National Pike, Scenery Hill, PA 15360
Est. Oct 20, 2023 (1827 as a tavern) - Building constructed: 1827
Previous bar owners in this location: George Beck 1827, James Ringland (1828-1840), David Railly (1840-), James Noble, John Taylor, Henry Taylor, Jesse Core, William Robinson

Web sites: beckringlandtavern.com - Facebook - Instagram 
Articles: grokipedia - National Register of Historic Places - observer-reporter - observer-reporter - yelp - roadtrippers