The White Horse Inn was established in 1850 by Lorenzo Hoard (1816-1888) is the oldest restaurant in Michigan that still does business the way it was intended. Located in Metamora, which was then described as "a beautiful little town in the spring and summer, being blessed with an abundance of large, shady maple trees." Lorenzo purchased the existing village store, once a stagecoach stop. The stagecoach period ended around 1910.
160 YEAR OLD HISTORY
When the White Horse Inn opened in 1850
Thirteen years earlier, in 1837,
Michigan became the 26th state,
1850 Levi Strauss made his first blue
jeans and the paper bag was invented,
11 years later in 1861, the American
Civil War began and Lincoln was elected President,
26 years later in 1876, the
telephone and refrigerator were invented,
29 years later in 1879, the light bulb
was invented,
·
60 years later, in 1910 gas was 10
cents a gallon and the Metamora Village speed limit was 8 miles per hour.
In 1850, Lorenzo Hoard (1816-1888) purchased the Historic White Horse Inn
which was an existing general store. He named it the Hoard House and
began operating as a boarding house charging 50 cents for overnight guests,
restaurant, general store and stagecoach stop. (The stagecoach period ended
around 1910.)
The "big event" of daily life during that period was when the
passenger train's whistle (in 1870’s) would blow. Once the villagers
heard that 6:10pm whistle the town would seem to "come alive".
Everyone would go to the train depot to see who would board and also come off
the train, watch them unload milk cans and they would follow the mail up to the
Post Office and sit around visiting and waiting for their mail to be
distributed.After the mail, they would go down to the White Horse Inn,
sit in the captain's chairs and talk until bedtime.
The White Horse was also a stop for the Underground Railroad, a network
of smuggling routes that helped slaves make their way from the south to
friendlier places in the north.
The History of the White Horse includes the names of some of the earliest
pioneers. Daniel Ammerman built the Inn in 1850. After several
changes of ownership, it passed to the Hoard family. By 1858 Hoard was
paying $50 a year in taxes on the Inn.
About 1872, the Michigan Central Railroad built its line through Metamora
and Hoard received a franchise to feed and house overnight passengers. By
1874, Metamora had 271 residents.
The Hoard House was listed in the 1876 Atlas of Lapeer County as having
"good accommodations for travelers. Feed and stabling for
horses."
Lorenzo Hoard died in 1888. Family managed the Hoard House until it
was sold in 1906 to William Detter and Samuel Miller. This partnership
presented the sale of liquor to their customers.
The late Gilbert Olds bought the inn about 1917 for $2,200 and kept it
until 1922 or 1923. He was remembered by the villagers for going around
without wearing shoes.Frank Peters, owned the inn during most of the Prohibition
Era. He made the White Horse a financial success by promoting breakfast
specials. It was Mr. Peters who changed the name from the Hoard House to
the White Horse after he saw a restaurant in Detroit with the same name.
The second floor of the
White Horse is home to a traditional tearoom and parlor, opened in 2005 and
named Miss Lucy's Tearoom and Parlor named in honor of the wife of White Horse
founder Lorenzo Hoard - Lucy Carpenter Hoard. Tearoom website www.misslucystearoom.com
Menu Historical Facts
for current menu items
In 1850, recycled
bread ends created ahomemade
Bread Pudding dessert that
families treated themselves to after dinner. It is still served today and is its most popular dessert item.
In 1850,
the year the White Horse was founded as the Hoard House, the great British
fish and chip trade grew out of existing small businesses which sold fish
and chips separately in the streets and alleys of London and some of
Britain’s industrial towns. The Historic White Horse Inn’s Famous Fish and Chip “all you
care to eat” dinners are still served at the White Horse today – it is
offered to dinner guests’ everyday and all day.
In 1862, James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist, had concocted a new
drink - Vernors. It was a
mix of 19 ingredients, including ginger, vanilla and natural flavorings.
It is still served at the White Horse today.
In 1886,
like many people who change history, John Pemberton, an Atlanta
pharmacist, was inspired by simple curiosity. One afternoon, he stirred up
a fragrant, caramel-colored liquid and, when it was done, he carried it a
few doors down to Jacobs' Pharmacy. Here, the mixture was combined with
carbonated water and sampled by customers who all agreed -- this new drink
was something special. So Jacobs' Pharmacy put it on sale for five cents a
glass. Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, named the mixture Coca-Cola®. The Historic
White Horse Inn still serves Coca-Cola
products.
American dictionaries date the first print instance of
the term "cobbler" in 1859.
The Historic White Horse Inn serves an Apple/Cranberry Cobbler as a dessert item in the fall and
winter-using Michigan apples whenever available.
Reservations Always Accepted 810.678.2150
Business Hours Monday Closed Tuesday thru Thursday 11:30am - 9:00pm Friday and Saturday 11:30am - 10:00pm Sunday: Old Fashioned Country Brunch 10:00am - 1:00pm Sunday: 1:00pm - 8:00pm
Miss Lucy's Tearoom Luncheon Tea - Saturday 11:30am - 3:00pm (Tearoom is open daily with a reservation of 8 adults or more)
Address 1 E. High Street (Dryden Road) Metamora, MI 48455 Just a few miles north of Oxford and south of Lapeer!