By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

In most pubs across the nation, their walls are decorated with the generic tchotchkes of Americana, but at Sully’s Irish Pub at the Witherspoon, the artifacts on its walls are part what owner Chuck Sullivan, Jr. calls a fifty-cent tour that begins with the historical timeline of the building, sweeps through the acknowledgement some of its most famous visitors and ends with a potpourri of treasured signage and trinkets that call to mind the Middletown of yesteryear.

It’s all part of the full experience of a visit to the famed site -- which originally opened as the Witherspoon Tavern in 1761 and ran as a colonial tavern for nearly 100 years -- so for the price of an easy request, Sullivan or anyone of his long-time staff will tell the stories behind the famous Everett Theatre sign, the original Witherspoon Hotel sign, black-and-white photos of long-time  Mayor Kenneth Branner and his brother Johnny when they were high school football players, the Pittsburgh Pirates uniform of Middletown native Chad Kuhl, a photo of Kuhl’s wife and former Miss Delaware and a framed display of fire equipment that is a tribute to firefighters in his family, a quote from John F. Kennedy, photos of his Irish grandparents, and the very sign that appeared on the front door of W.D. Hatton’s clock and watch repair shop for decades.

In short, a visit to Sully’s Irish Pub assures great food, the friendly company of neighbors and friends and the assurance that the pub’s signature Reuben will be enjoyed within the presence of local history.

June 20, 1775

“When I took over ownership of the pub in 2009, I was welcoming the birth of my son, Charlie, and in addition to Sully’s, he was taking up nearly all my time and energy,” said Sullivan, who grew up in Salem, N.J. and formerly owned a pub in Youngstown, Ohio for several years. “Around that time, I began to hear rumblings about the pub once being a colonial tavern and that George Washington had stayed at the hotel. One day, a gentleman named Dave Schenk brought a book in called Thomas Jefferson: American Tourist. 

“He told me to turn page 267, and there it was, from Jefferson’s own journal: ‘Attending the Continental Congress of 1775, on June 11, I left Williamsburg for Philadelphia. On June 20, paid service at Middletown Witherspoon’s for lodging.’ It lit a fire under me. I felt it was a story that must be told.” 

Sullivan then called Jefferson’s estate at Monticello.

“I told the associate, ‘I want to know where TJ was on June 20, 1775,’” he said. “She sent me a copy of the microfiche of his actual journal entry. Later on, we obtained a similar log indicating that George Washington stayed here.”

During his sleuthing, Sullivan found out another detail: the property forms what is considered Delaware’s oldest continuously surviving tavern.

“Jessop’s Tavern in Old New Castle predates us by 30 years, but it was originally built as a home and it ran as a home and a business until 1956, when someone stuck a tavern in,” he said. “We have served food and drinks and have had people sleeping upstairs since 1761.”

Recreating a landmark tavern wasn’t all Sullivan’s doing. He credits Fran Persaud, a former restaurant manager, for her creative assistance.

“I had all of the vision for the pub, but it was Fran who made it happen. She was instrumental in the placement of what has become Sully’s fifty-cent tour,” he said. “She got the Jefferson and Wahington portraits framed. She hung a lot of the photos. Piece by piece, she took my ideas and brought them all to fruition.”

It’s not just the interior of Sully’s Irish Pub at the Witherspoon that continues to be at the top of Sullivan’s priorities. The pub has added outdoor dining areas that have become the hottest al fresco dining seats in town, with full views of the town square and Main Street. It has also seen new roofing installed and repairs from a June 30, 2023 fire in a second-floor apartment are being completed.

There has been another exterior project of Sullivan’s, one that firmly crystallizes his commitment to honor the history of the site and stand for eternity. After several years, he helped spearhead an initiative that in 2019 placed a Delaware historic marker in front of the pub that paid homage to the original Witherspoon Tavern and its owner, David Witherspoon. He even wrote its contents in his own words:

David Witherspoon, born in Ireland, built this tavern in 1761 as a midpoint between waterways to the east and west. While traveling to the Continental Congress, Thomas Jefferson lodged here on June 20, 1775. George Washington also dined at the Witherspoon on April 30 and May 19, 1784. Robert Cochran purchased the tavern in 1844 and later improved it into the Victorian style Middletown Hotel. The tavern has operated on the town square for more than 250 years. It has survived the American Revolution, Civil War, Prohibition, Great Depression and a devastating fire in 1946. The first floor and foundation from 1761 remain intact.
 
                                                        ‘Present-day caretaker’

“My son Charlie is now 11 years old and years from now, as he drives through his hometown, I want him to be proud of his dad for discovering and preserving all of that history,” Sullivan said. “He can look at that historic marker and say, ‘My dad wrote that.’”

For nearly the past 15 years – supported by his long-time and trusted staff -- Chuck Sullivan has exuberantly and humbly donned several hats at Sully’s Irish Pub at the Witherspoon. Greeter. Connector. Conversation starter. Unofficial Middletown history museum curator. Visionary. 

He loves every hat he wears. 

“I have said this for several years and I will say it again: I do not own this pub,” he said. “This pub has been here for 263 years, and it belongs to the people of Middletown. I am merely the present-day caretaker. I take the responsibility of owning this piece of history very seriously. If someone takes a business trip to Wyoming and asks as their hotel, ‘Where do the locals go?’ they usually receive a response like, ‘Oh, everybody goes down to Joey’s.’

“From the time I inherited this historic landmark, I wanted Sully’s to be that place in Middletown, and I’m proud to say that it doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to all of us.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].