Union Hotel Restaurant
 circa 1790
1282 Susquehanna Rd.
 Port Deposit, MD 21904
(410) 378-3503

=A Step back into time=

   On Route 222, several miles north of Port Deposit, time stands still. There are miles of uninterrupted trees that branch over the road: stately in manor, it is like an entrance to plantation hundreds of years back. The trees are varied, but one thing is noticeable is the mighty girths of pin oaks, long mature sycamores - even Port Deposit's adopted town tree, the paw paws, graces the road side.

Situated between the Conowingo Dam and Port Deposit, off to the cliffside, only a few hundred yards from the river, stands the hewn log restaurant. Its exterior looks much as it would have 200 years ago. The old wood sign by the entrance is marked Union Hotel Restaurant, circa 1790, as a weary traveler you would feel very invited in.

The roots of this home-restaurant-tavern trace back to the late 1700s, when at that time it belonged to James Gillespie and his wife, Martha and was known as Gillespie's Log House .

According to land records from 1794, the land was originally know as "Heath's Adventure" -During its long history the house even served as a brothel for construction workers of the Conowingo Dam in the 1920's.

During the early 1800's, one of Gillespie's descendants, operated it as a tavern and hotel, serving the many merchants and seamen who traveled down the Susquehanna on river arks, as well those travelers crossing the river on the several covered bridges and river ferry's of that time.

Originally the  property was a little over147 acres with it property line stopping at rivers edge. A business called Lee's Ferry operated there serving travelers going  between Cecil and Harford counties The Great Road an original Susquehannock Indian Trail paralleled the river dividing the shore and the Restaurant Hotel

On its property at one time a stretch of the Susquehanna Canal, which was dug in the 1780s to circumvent a dangerous stretch of the river (named Symth's Falls, it was Capt. John Smith in 1608, who could not navigate due to the extensive granite in the river). One can still see the canal off the "Great Road" (US 222) on the river side.

The restaurant specializes in the Colonial period food offering of fresh seasonal dishes, such as rabbit and fresh seafood.

There is a wonderful atmosphere inside, the waitresses dress in Colonial-era garb, diners are served on pewter plates. There are even homemade heavy cherry tables in which to dine, which are reported to have been made from a single log from a felled tree.

The Union Hotel is ideal for private parties or intimate dinners where you want to experience a well prepared meal, excellent service and take a step back into an era long gone.