Vernon Prominently Featured in State Historical Society's Tavern Sign Display

A sign of the times from Vernon past has a spot front and center at the Connecticut Historical Society Museum. 

It's the sign from the Old Vernon Hotel, circa 1834, painted by William Rice. It is the largest sign hung in the Tavern collection at the museum and likely one of the largest of its time, museum officials said.  

It was donated to the museum by the Sabra Trumbull Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, in 1960. 

The Vernon Hotel was located on Hartford Turnpike near the Tolland line, according to "Images of America: Vernon and Historic Rockville," by S. Ardis Abbott and Jean A. Luddy. 

It was commonly known as King's Tavern. 

It was a popular stop for stagecoaches and the Marquis de Lafayette, the French nobleman and Revolutionary War hero, stopped there while visiting America in 1724. After 1868, it was converted to a home for indigent residents, according to the book. 

It was demolished after World War II to make room for the Lafayette Square shopping plaza, the book points out.