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By SHARON KILPATRICK
Rappahannock Newt Staff Writer
It seems there may soon be three restaurants at the intersection of Main and Middle streets in-Washington.
Charles and Frances Eldred have applied to the council for a special use permit to operate Mrs. Coxe’s Tavern on the ground floor of their Washington House residence.
Mrs. Eldred explains that Anne Calvert Coxe is the first owner and operator they can trace of the inn and restaurant that used to be run from their house.
In 1799 she received a ljcense from Culpeper County, which at that time included what is now Rappahannock County, to operate an “ordinary.” She had been married in 1798. Some time after the marriage and after Mrs. Coxe had her license to operate, Mr. Coxe went west and “died in a barroom brawl” according to local rumor, Mrs. Eldred said.
“Anne Coxe was clearly a woman before her time,” Mrs. Eldred said. “She owned and ran her own business, loaned money, and she was used as a reference.” She said Mrs. Coxe ran the ordinary, which provided meals and lodging, until her death in 1848.
“She was an independent lady and an astute business person,” Mr. Eldred said.
It was during her tenure that the ordinary served as the gathering place for those working on the formation of Rappahannock County as a separate county
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