The Overfield Tavern is one of Ohio's oldest taverns built in 1808 by Pennsylvania native Benjamin Overfield. Benjamin Overfield was born in 1774 near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, a grandson of German pioneers who settled along the Delaware River in 1722.
Benjamin
Overfield died in July of 1831. His obituary in the Troy paper read:
"After a short illness, Mr. Benjamin Overfield passed away, aged 57 years. The deceased was the first citizen of this town. He located himself here and opened a publick house in the thicket more than 20 years ago. He kept a house which has always been found as an asylum for the weary traveler, well provided and furnished with accommodations for travelers and visitors. In the deceased, the citizens of this place have lost a worthy citizen, and the public in general have sustained the loss of a good congenial Inn-keeper. Mr. Overfield was remarkable for his scrupulous honesty and religious punctuality. He made little display - tended to his own business, and to none else; and thus secured the good will of all and the enmity of none."
The Tavern passed from the ownership of the Overfield family in 1834 and was constantly occupied until 1948, when Edward A. Hobart, President of Hobart Brothers Company, and his brother William Harrison Hobart, Sr. purchased and restored the building.
In 1996 the Tavern was opened to the public under the direction of the Troy Historical Society and many of the furnishings of the period have been added by the society. The Tavern is owned and maintained by the Overfield Tavern Museum Corporation.