Potter’s Tavern
Potter's Tavern
49-51 West Broad St.
Map / Directions to Potter's Tavern
Map / Directions to all Bridgeton Revolutionary War Sites
For tour information,see the Cumberland County Historical Society website: www.cchistsoc.org
Matthew Potter and Potter's Tavern
Potter's Tavern was owned by Matthew Potter, who was born in Ireland in 1734. His family immigrated to America when Matthew was a youth, first to Connecticut and then to Philadelphia. He later moved to Bridgeton, where he ran a tavern in this building, which also contained his blacksmith shop. His brother David Potter was a Revolutionary War militia colonel. [1]
Taverns at the time served multiple purposes. In addition to serving alcohol and food, they offered lodging to travelers. They also served as places for a wide range of public functions, including town meetings, legal courts, and elections. [2]
The Plain-Dealer [3]
Potters Tavern not only provided a place for local citizens to discuss matters, it also provided a home for what is sometimes described as New Jersey's first newspaper, the Plain-Dealer. From December 25, 1775 until February 12, 1776, eight weekly handwritten editions of the Plain-Dealer appeared in the tavern. It contained short articles written by Cumberland County citizens commenting on issues of the day, many of which concerned the early Revolutionary War. Local residents were welcome to stop by the tavern to read the Plain-Dealer at Potter's Tavern. They were not allowed to remove the Plain-Dealer from the tavern, but they were welcome to handwrite their own copies to take with them.
The articles in the Plain-Dealer were written anonymously or under pseudonyms. Among those who are believed to have contributed to the Plain-Dealer were the future third- and fourth-elected governors of New Jersey, Richard Howell and Joseph Bloomfield. Several of the believed contributors including Jonathan Elmer, Lewis Howell, and the aforementioned Richard Howell, took part in the Greenwich Tea Burning.
Although the Plain-Dealer may not have been a newspaper by modern standards, it did serve the purpose of keeping local residents informed during the tumultuous period of the early Revolutionary War, and it maintained a weekly schedule for eight weeks.
Two "real" newspapers would begin publication in New Jersey during the next several years of the Revolutionary War. The first was The New Jersey Gazette, which began publication in Burlington in 1777 and then later moved to Trenton. The second was the New Jersey Journal, which began publication in Chatham in 1779.
