How big was the Old Pennell / Lyons Tavern?

 Colrain history has it that the oldest tavern in town was the Pennell tavern which existed on top of Chandler Hill on land now owned by David Nims. That building, long gone, was known later known as the Lyons tavern after its 19th century owners.
There is an 1870s ?? photo of a large building with a couple standing in front. *


Can we use this photo to reconstruct the building's footprint and floorplan? **... Maybe ...
We have what appear to be two buildings joined together.  A family note on an old deed refers to this property as containing the "Lyons Hotel and Tavern".  Is the taller, more decrepit building to the right the tavern?
Anyway, since we have a fairly complete front elevation (facade) perhaps we can, with some professional help, come up with building footprint and a possible floor plan.


To make analysis easier we traced most of the important lines on the photo and then transferred them to a simple line drawing (below).

This sketch could probably be used to get a good idea of the height and width of the front of the building.  Then, with help from an architectural historian (or just a "normal" smart guy or gal !!), we could create a possible depth for the building footprint , followed by a possible floorplan.

For no particular reason, and sans skill, I came up with a 24' x 34" left footprint and larger one to the right.  But who knows ??

D. Allen Oct 2024

* This print is from the Nims family. A slightly different print with some historical notes on verso is #2591 in our database.

**  If we can come with a "kinda-sorta" footprint we could perhaps place the building on the ground at the Nims property, where there is no large foundation visible.  Positioning the tavern would also help establish the location of the ancient Greenfield Road, which would surely have been close to the tavern. The modern road is 150' +- away from one possible tavern site.

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