MORRISTOWN –Morristown Historic Preservation Association Vice President Pamela McCort believes the historic Black Horse Inn will be remembered forever.

According to Belmont County Tourism’s website, The Black Horse Inn was erected around 1807 as a smaller structure with additions coming later over the years. It was the site of Duncan Morrison’s tavern and reputed to be part of the Underground Railroad during the Civil War.

Before getting notoriety as the Black Horse Inn, it operated as the Horner House, Wright Hotel and Shriver Hotel.

The Morristown Historic Preservation Association was formed in the 1980s to help preserve Morristown. McCort said that the association was formed by residents who were buying and restoring historic houses in the village.

She added that Bellaire native Peg Dankworth was the driving force behind the association before she died in 2011.

“She really was the catalyst for the restoration of many of the homes here, and she restored many of the homes here,” McCort said.

“It kind of died a little bit. And so back in the early ’90s, a group of us decided to ramp it up again and do some community improvement.”

She added that before the association purchased the Black Horse Inn in 2013, it sat empty for years with the last iteration being multi-family housing.

McCort said that her husband Tom, who died in 2020, wanted to clean out the building, regardless of whether the association was ever able to secure the funds needed to restore it.

She said that while cleaning out the building in 2013, they took 21 dump truck loads of debris out of the inn.

“After that we were like,’ why don’t we fix up the downstairs and we could maybe host banquets and things like that,'” McCort said.

Around that time, the Belmont County Tourism Council helped the association in restoring the building.

“We knew from the beginning that we’re small but we’re mighty here in Morristown, but we knew we were going to need a partnership to take this building into the 21st century,” McCort said.

In May of 2024, The Underground Railroad Museum located in Flushing received $3.9 million from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s Appalachian Community Grant Program.

The program is part of a $154 million investment in Appalachian downtowns and destinations. With that grant funding the museum will be relocating into the Black Horse Inn.

The inn is one of the last remaining inns and taverns on Old National Road. It is believed to have also been a stop on the Underground Railroad, so McCort believes the partnership is the perfect fit to preserve the past and create a prosperous future for the historic building.

She added that she believes the future of the Black Horse Inn looks incredibly bright and said that she believes good things come to those who wait and the association haven been working towards the goal of preserving the inn but were patient and didn’t get discouraged when the funds weren’t there.

“It’s the perfect partnership with the Underground Railroad Museum, we have a great respect for them. All of us knew and loved Dr. Maddox who started the museum,” she said. “He believed in what we were doing here as well and I’m sorry he’s not here anymore and I really wish he, Tom, and Peg Dankworth were all here because they were all visionaries.”

Despite the museum moving to the building it is still owned by the association. The grant will provide the restoration of the Underground Railroad portion of the building. As well as its exhibits.

McCort hopes to be able to use the third floor to potentially be made into a place where patrons can stay overnight at and be able to take part in exclusive tours etc.

She said that the late Dr. John Mattox, the founder and former curator of the Underground Railroad Museum. believed that the basement of the Black Horse Inn had tunnels from the Underground Railroad and she and current Underground Railroad Museum Director Kristina Estle hope to be able to eventually find them.

McCort said that once the renovation to the Black Horse Inn is complete she plans to do a full media blitz on promotion for the museum’s opening that has yet to have a date.

She said that it’s imperative for the inn to have a strong social media and internet presence because that’s the best way to reach people in modern times.

“I feel like this is a 21st century project for a 19th century building so we’re going to have to use all means of communication,” McCort said. “I really feel that what we have is going to bring people here, we just have to make sure they know about it.”