The claim
A riverside inn at the foot of Bristol's Radcliffe Street, overlooking the Delaware where Samuel Clift ran a ferry from 1681. The present building rose after a fire in the 1730s and took its royal name in 1765. Revolutionary-era officers are said to have lodged here. Today it offers a tavern bar, dining and rooms.
What the records show
The 1681 belongs to the Pennsylvania press, not to the inn. The Pennsylvania Independent, on 25 July 2024, has the house opening as the Ferry House in 1681 under Samuel Clift, who ran the ferry between Bristol and New Jersey, and quotes a state tourism official who says it is the oldest bar in Pennsylvania. The inn's own pages claim America's oldest inn and tavern and print no year. Wikipedia records inn use from 1705 and a rebuild after the fire of 1735; the present building is not of 1681 and the restaurant closed in 2010-11, so the claim to unbroken trade is unproven.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1681 | Claimed founding | The press |
| c.1735 | Present building | Building fabric |
| 1705 | First record of a drinking house here | Wikipedia, citing the inn's own history page for 1705 |
What to look for inside
- Claims to be Pennsylvania's oldest bar
- Revolutionary War headquarters for General Cadwalader (per inn history)
- Closed briefly 2010-11 before reopening
Visiting
King George II Inn is in Bristol, United States, at 102 Radcliffe Street, Bristol, PA 19007. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_George_II_Inn
- bucksco.today/2025/11/king-george-ii-inn-350/
- pennsylvaniaindependent.com/politics/drinking-with-ghosts-the-life-of-bristols-343-year-old-king-george-ii-inn/
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
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Free to put on your own site, no permission needed. It shows what the pub claims and what the records support, and it changes when the data does.
How to use it, and how to change what it says — if you have a document we have not seen, we would like to read it.
