Griswold Inn Banquet Table

This piece of furniture is a banquet table from the Griswold Inn. It was made in James Kilbourn's Worthington Manufacturing Company. It is displayed in the dining room of the 1819-wing of the Orange Johnson House museum. According to an August 30, 1907 letter written by Fondelia Griswold to her daughter Ruth, Fondelia's father-in-law George Harlow Griswold took three trips carrying table sections up the hill to the inn on his back from the Worthington Manufacturing Company on the Whetstone River. The inn, extant until 1964, was built in 1811 on the north-east Village Green by Worthington founder Ezra Griswold. Its location near the intersection of Granville Road (Rt. 161) and High Street (Rt. 23) made it a popular stopping place for travelers. The Inn featured a fireplace in every room and a large second floor ballroom, which was eventually converted to bedrooms when the Inn reverted to residence of the Griswold family. The building was razed in 1964, despite efforts in the community to save it.