The Unique West Virginia Tavern Built Where Two Presidents Headquartered During The Civil War

Located in Beckley, West Virginia, Fosters Main Street Tavern has been (in some way, shape, or form) an important part of the town's history for over a hundred years. Before its current incarnation as a well-loved bar and restaurant, it was a hardware store that was founded in 1917 and served the town for decades. And before that, it was Davis Cottage, a place where two future presidents, Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley, would meet to plan and socialize when they were both serving in the Civil War. (Not General Ulysses S. Grant, though; otherwise, there would be bottles of Old Crow Bourbon littering the gutters outside the cottage.)

Future presidents Hayes and McKinley served together in the 23rd Ohio Infantry Regiment during the Civil War, where they became close friends and often took meals together. The atmosphere in Davis Cottage was probably a good deal less relaxed and convivial back then than it is today, but a sense of history persists all the same — both from the famous diners, and from J.G. Foster's hardware store, which served Beckley for almost seventy years. Although the original Foster, nicknamed "Red", is no longer with us, the establishment still bears his name.

Much of the interior (and a bit of the exterior to the left of the tavern, as you can see in the picture above) remains the same from its hardware store days. Today, however, Fosters is a social hub for the town of Beckley, serving classic American fare and assorted liquors until well past midnight. There are wings with sauces bearing colorful names like Ol' Smokey (Mesquite), The Flying Fajita (Tex Mex) and Chernobyl, its hottest offering. (If you have leftover wing sauce, here are some things you can do with it.) There's the standard array of burgers, including a classic burger, a barbecue burger served with a barbecue sauce glaze made from Guinness, and burgers featuring Swiss and blue cheese. And don't forget the craft beers, many of them brewed locally — no one tell Anthony Bourdain, who disliked hunting down obscure, local craft brews.

Fosters serves as something of a community hub for the area, hosting plenty of parties, open mic nights, and fundraisers. As Beckley is home to several universities, including a divisional campus of West Virginia University, there are plenty of college kids to accommodate and enough guests to keep the place busy. Even without the history, it would be a welcome sight. With it, of course, it feels like a small part of a grand American tapestry.