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Marlborough Tavern is on the National Register of Historic Places. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license versions 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, and 1.0.

Owners closing Conn. historic Marlborough Tavern

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

Marlborough Tavern is on the National Register of Historic Places. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license versions 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, and 1.0.
Marlborough Tavern is on the National Register of Historic Places. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license versions 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, and 1.0.
MARLBOROUGH, Conn. (AP) – The owners of a Connecticut tavern that dates back to 1740 and hosted presidents James Madison and Andrew Jackson say they’re closing the business.

John Spellman and Jim Bradley co-own the Marlborough Tavern, about 17 miles southeast of Hartford in Marlborough. They say the struggling economy made it too hard to keep up with expenses, and a recent five-day power outage caused by Tropical Storm Irene forced them to throw out all the food.

An auction of historic items from the tavern is set for Tuesday.

Spellman and Bradley began operating the tavern 26 years ago, after the building had been vacant for a decade. They say it’s probably the oldest operating tavern in the state, and it wasn’t an easy decision to close it.

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AP-WF-09-23-11 1315GMT