1830s Westminster Tavern, Now the Historical Society's Shop at Cockey's
216 East Main Street, Westminster, MD 21157
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The Shop at Cockey's is the Historical Society of Carroll County's museum store; visit is free during business hours
Access
Limited Access
Historic three-story building; upper floors via narrow stairs
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1830 · 1830s Main Street tavern · Possible 1863 J.E.B. Stuart headquarters site · Historical Society of Carroll County property
Cockey's Tavern stands at 216 East Main Street in Westminster, the seat of Carroll County, Maryland. The oldest portion of the building dates to the 1830s, when an earlier log structure was enlarged into a substantial Main Street tavern and hostelry. The building operated as a tavern at least through 1877, and a third floor was added to the structure around 1905.
Local tradition associates the building with Confederate cavalry General J.E.B. Stuart, who may have used it as a temporary headquarters during the June 1863 cavalry march that culminated in the Battle of Westminster (also called Corbit's Charge) on June 29, 1863 and at Gettysburg on July 1-3, 1863. The Battle of Westminster pitted a small Delaware cavalry detachment under Captain Charles Corbit against Stuart's much larger force; Stuart took the town but was delayed in his march north.
The building is now home to the Historical Society of Carroll County's museum shop, the Shop at Cockey's. The Historical Society's campus on East Main Street interprets Carroll County history including the Civil War period.
Sources
The Cockey's Tavern ghost lore developed during the building's tavern years and continued into its current life as the Historical Society's Shop at Cockey's. The most consistent report is the sound of heavy boots ascending the center stairwell to the second floor. Staff and prior tavern employees describe a Confederate-soldier presence and link the figure to the building's possible 1863 use by J.E.B. Stuart during the Westminster cavalry engagement.
A second strand of activity centers on objects, especially framed pictures. Local tradition holds that the ghost rearranges or removes wall-mounted artwork, and one account widely repeated in Baltimore Sun coverage describes a painting falling and striking a visitor who had just announced she did not believe in ghosts. Doors slamming in unoccupied parts of the building round out the typical reports.
A woman in green colonial-style dress is mentioned in some Shadowlands-era accounts, though Historical Society material focuses more consistently on the Confederate soldier tradition.
Notable Entities
Visit the Historical Society of Carroll County's museum shop in the former Cockey's Tavern building on Westminster's Main Street. Browse Maryland and Civil War history titles, and ask staff about the building's tavern era and J.E.B. Stuart connection.
Pair the Cockey's stop with the Historical Society of Carroll County campus around East Main Street, which interprets the town's role in the June 1863 Battle of Westminster (Corbit's Charge) and the Confederate cavalry's march to Gettysburg.
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