By Michael Perna Jr.
Contributing Writer
YARMOUTH – When it was first established in the year 1696, some 330 years ago, the Yarmouth Inn was used as an overnight stopping point for stagecoach passengers that were making the very long trip from Boston to Provincetown, which took a day and a half to complete at that time. The weary travelers were able to get a hot meal and a good night’s sleep before continuing on their journey the next day.
The inn was located on the King’s Highway. During its early days, local churchgoers, who had spent several hours in unheated churches, would frequent the Inn after church services, happy to warm up next to the fireplace and get a hot meal or beverage.
Oldest Cape restaurant
The Yarmouth Inn, which is today listed on the National Register of Historic Places, served as the stagecoach stop until a railroad was built along the Cape in the 1870s, ending the stagecoach service. What is today known as the Old Yarmouth Inn is recognized as the oldest restaurant still in existence on Cape Cod and most likely in the entire United States.
An iconic wooden sign, discovered at an auction house in Yarmouth, Maine in recent years, read “Yarmouth Inn” – the owners of the auction house contacted the inn’s owners and told them about the sign. The owners purchased the sign and returned it to its original home. It is on display in the entry way of the inn today. The early history of the inn is somewhat obscure – a fire in the Yarmouth Town Hall years ago destroyed many early records of local buildings.
It has been reported that the inn was used as a part of the “Underground Railroad” – a stop for people escaping slavery during the Civil War years – with a secret attic space used to shelter them.
Strange events
It is in the years following the Civil War that strange occurrences began in the Yarmouth Inn. There were reports of figures dressed in old-fashioned clothing that appeared in guests’ bedrooms in the middle of the night. These apparitions appeared to be kind and quiet. Still later, other unexplainable events continued to occur – bartenders reported glasses and ashtrays sliding across the bar and falling on the floor. Waitresses who had tied their hair up would suddenly find the ties pulled out of their hair; waitstaff would hear their names being whispered in their ears,
One current waitress, Ann Marie, recalls an older woman, who was waiting to be seated, smiling and waving to someone – the waitress asked her who she was waving to. She responded: “The little girl over there. The one wearing the cute bonnet and old-fashioned dress.” The only thing was that there was no little girl wearing a dress and bonnet anywhere to be seen.
Recent changes
In more recent times, the inn’s name was changed to the Old Yarmouth Inn and several additions to the building were built. The dining menu was changed to a more upscale theme, for which the inn has been recognized a number of times as one of Cape Cod’s best fine dining establishments. In 2007, a major change was made to the inn’s operation – it was switched to solely a restaurant operation, with no more overnight accommodations being offered to guests. Recent owners of the inn were Sheila Fitzgerald and Arpad Voros, who ran the restaurant from May 1996 to May of 2023. Joe Dowick, the current owner, took over the operation in May 2023.
Photo/Michael Perna Jr.
After 330 years of continuous operation, current visitors to Cape Cod can enjoy an evening of fine dining, along with an extensive, award-winning selection of fine wine at the Old Yarmouth Inn, with both indoor and outdoor seating being offered – and even having the possibility of a ghostly experience too.
As an example of the high-quality meals that are available, we can quote Rich Perna, who serves as the Assistant Vice President of Hospitality Services at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. He has been involved in the food service industry for almost forty years and after a recent visit to the inn, where he dined on the beef short rib meal, he had this to say: “That was the best meal I’ve had in a very long time!”
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