By Austin Rust-
The historic Olde Wayside Inn at 222 West Main Street in West Union reopened its doors for business Sunday, July 14 under the management of its new owners, Becky and Christian Walls. Renovations have been made to the rooms for rent upstairs, and additions to the menu include milkshakes, cheesecake with a shortbread crust, and breakfast sandwiches to-go.
“I was Assistant Manager under the old chef,” said owner Becky Walls, “When she left, Miss (Grace) Lafferty asked me if I would take it over, since I knew the ropes and everything.”
“I was born in the old Adams County Hospital, and raised in this town, so the history of this place means a lot to me, to keep it up and running.”
“I love it here,” she continued. “It’s very home-like to me, and I’ve done a lot to try to keep it up. Regular customers(were coming before I even had it open to check it out.”
“The menu has changed a little – not a lot,” said Walls. “We still have everybody’s favorites, we still have the burgers, etc. There’s just a few things that’s changed – nothing drastic.”
“I decided to keep what we used to sell the most and cut what we didn’t sell a lot of,” she explained. “Things that we didn’t sell a lot of, like shrimp scampi, were taken off the menu. We like old home-cooked food in Adams County – we like fried chicken and stuff like that.”
In the near future, Walls hopes to set up a website where people who are on their way to work in the morning can order breakfast sandwiches to be made ready for pick-up at the inn. She has also been delivering orders to locations nearby in town, such as the courthouse and beauty shop.
“We want to make it convenient for people,” said Walls, “and create a home-like environment here at the inn where they can come and relax.” Several additions, such as a new flat-screen TV to be put in above the buffet table, and televisions for the rented rooms, work toward this goal.
“We’re trying to do the best we can to keep the place going, but I also want it to be as original as possible, like Miss Lafferty had it.” Walls concluded. “That’s what we’re trying to get back to, because everybody loved when Grandma Grace was here. I can remember coming here while growing up as a kid, and there were always people here, so I’m trying to get back to that.”
The history of the Olde Wayside Inn is a long one, with the Inn registered as a historical place in Ohio.
The Olde Wayside Inn was built circa 1804 by General David Bradford. It was the first hotel in West Union, Ohio, and served travelers along Zane’s Trace, the original route from Limestone, Ky. (now called Maysville) to Wheeling, West Va. Notable visitors to the tavern in its early years included U.S. President Andrew Jackson, who stopped in 1829 enroute to his inauguration, Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna, who stopped in 1836 on his way to Washington D.C., and two prominent American statesmen, Henry Clay and Thomas Benton.
In 1850, Fields Marlatt took ownership of the hotel, and it was known for 10 years as The Marlatt House. The inn was then leased to John Crawford in 1860, and was called The Crawford House for over 25 years. Numerous small business occupied the structure during the early 20th century. It was operated as the Commercial Hotel from 1904 to 1919 by Robert Lawler.
In 1963, William Lafferty, the great-great-grandson of Fields Marlatt, reopened the hotel as The Olde Wayside Inn, together with his wife Grace. Under their ownership, the structure was restored and renovated with modern facilities, but the original framework and mantles were left intact. They kept the historic atmosphere of the inn by furnishing it with family antiques.