1752 Bucks County Courthouse-Turned-Tavern
1 E Broad St, Trumbauersville, PA 18970
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Sports bar and restaurant pricing.
Access
Limited Access
Historic building with original floors
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1752 · Colonial Pennsylvania · Bucks County Heritage · First Tavern in Trumbauersville
The structure at 1 East Broad Street in Trumbauersville carries a layered institutional history. Before becoming a tavern, it functioned as a courthouse — a dual civic role that was common in small colonial Pennsylvania communities where a single substantial building often served multiple public functions.
In 1752, Elisha Parker applied for a tavern license, making the Trum Tavern the first licensed establishment in the township. The building has operated continuously since, passing through multiple owners across three centuries.
Today it operates as a sports bar and American restaurant under the name Trum Tavern, Inc., at the same East Broad Street address. The building is listed in the hauntedplaces.org database. Notably, the venue's own printed menu includes the ghost story on its back page — a degree of institutional acknowledgment unusual among bars.
Sources
Jacob — no surname attached in available sources — is said to be a former owner of the Trum Tavern who never quite left. His presence is concentrated on the second floor, and the pattern of his activity is straightforward: a sense of being followed, objects found out of place, and sounds that staff and patrons describe as distinctly out of the ordinary.
The accounts characterize Jacob as an active rather than passive presence — not a residual impression of old footsteps but something that responds to human presence with movement and noise.
The most telling evidence of how seriously the venue takes its own ghost story: the back of the Trum Tavern's printed menu includes Jacob's account. A bar that puts the ghost in the menu rather than denying him suggests a staff culture that has integrated the unexplained into the building's identity.
Notable Entities
Drink in Pennsylvania's first tavern in Trumbauersville — a building licensed in 1752 that began as a courthouse. The ghost of former owner Jacob is said to favor the second floor, making himself known by following visitors around, moving objects, and producing unexplained sounds. His presence is described in the tavern's own printed menu.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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