Flight of the Madisons: Dolley at Wiley's Tavern
Wiley's Tavern located on the plat by I.A. Sommers in 1837.
A severe thunderstorm hit the Washington area on August 25, 1814, and lore says that Dolley Madison arrived at Wiley's Tavern and made her way upstairs to rest. The tavern owner's wife, angry because her husband had been drawn into the fighting, supposedly told the first lady to "come down and go out!" President Madison met his wife here after the storm. The reunion was brief and Madison left around midnight to go to Maryland. Mrs. Madison would return to Falls Church along the Leesburg Pike to Minor's Hill.
- Credit
- Office of Comprehensive Planning, Fairfax, VA
