If These Walls Could Talk
City Tavern Club’s Brian Bello salutes America’s first ladies in programming at Washington, D.C. historic venue in lead up to the nation's 250th anniversary.
On an early spring morning from a quiet room in one of Washington, D.C.’s most historic buildings, Brian Bello is busy thinking about anniversary plans. Not just any anniversary, but the anniversary.
On July 4, 2026, America turns 250 years old.
A little more than a year off, it may seem like a date still in the distant future. To be expected, there will be salutes to founding fathers and remembrances of key American moments in history.
However, Bello wants another set of historic figures commemorated in the lead up to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence—America’s first ladies.
“I’m part of the American education system,” he says. “I didn’t learn much about the first ladies except maybe Martha [as in Martha Washington].”
So this year, Bello, the general manager of City Tavern Club located in Georgetown at M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, began by offering its membership visits by experts in the field of first ladies studies including co-authors Diana B. Carlin, Anita B. McBride and Nancy Kegan Smith of the newly released book Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women.
“I wanted to get Revolutionary first ladies in the mix,” Bello says, adding he wants to explore all the stories that are connected to the building. “Our second floor, which we call the Long Room, was the biggest public meeting space from 1796 to 1800. So, any who’s who of Georgetown or Washington, D.C. would have been in that room.”
The City Tavern Club building, originally constructed in 1796, has a rich history. It operated as both an inn, stage coach depot, post office and the Mayor of Georgetown’s office. It was a hub of civic life during the early Federal period, according to the club’s website. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other founding fathers frequented the tavern during this time. And, on June 6, 1800, President John Adams was honored at a banquet in the club’s prestigious Long Room, where it has been established that Adams, while visiting the tavern, offered this toast:
“Georgetown—May its prosperity equal the ardent enterprise of its inhabitants, and the felicity of their situation.”
The club, established in 1959, occupies one of oldest buildings in the nation's capital, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of the last Federal-style taverns operating in Washington, D.C. During its history, it has been known as Semmes’ Tavern, The Indian King Tavern, the Columbian Inn, United States Hotel, Georgetown Hotel, and Morgan House.
Early documented history like this is what got Bello thinking about the presidential spouses who hadn’t been mentioned in those early federalist days.
“There’s no easy way to trace any kind of first ladies in those earlier days,” Bello says. What he did learn, however, from the author visits, was that Martha Washington and Abigail Adams had a relationship.
Notably, the City Tavern Club possesses a handwritten letter by Abigail Adams that is framed with a picture of the former first lady. It’s kept in a second floor meeting room, Bello says. There also is speculation that Jacqueline Kennedy may have attended the club. Bello says that four different members of the Kennedy family stayed there over time.
“A lot of Kennedy people did. It was very popular,” says Smith, president of the First Ladies Association of Research and Education, who has presented several programs at the club. “It is rumored she picked out the wallpaper in their dining room.”
(This film chronicling Lynda Johnson’s prenuptial events includes footage from Johnson’s rehearsal dinner at the City Tavern Club.)
Smith also noted that members of the Lyndon Baines Johnson family enjoyed attending the club.
“Particularly Lynda and Luci,” she says. “They went there quite a bit.”
In fact, it was the venue for Lynda Bird Johnson, the Johnson’s eldest daughter, whose rehearsal dinner was held at City Tavern Club before marrying Chuck Robb in 1967.
In more recent history, according to Smith, Nancy and Ronald Reagan had an inaugural lunch there. In fact, their visit to City Tavern Club is documented on an itinerary entitled “President-Elect Ronald Wilson Reagan Proposed and Tentative Schedule” that lists Reagan’s inaugural schedule from Jan. 14 to Jan. 20, 1981.
On Jan. 17, it shows at noon the then president-elect and Nancy Reagan to attend a luncheon hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Holmes Tuttle at the City Tavern Club. Beneath the typed schedule is a handwritten note that reads: “Kids?”
At 1:45 p.m., the schedule shows: “President Elect and Mrs. Reagan conclude luncheon and return to Blair House.”
The City Tavern Club has traditionally held a Jacqueline Kennedy dinner in July near the former first lady’s birthday. Events like that, says Bello, are an opportunity for the club to showcase past White House menus from while she served as first lady. After the recipe for the Kennedy’s wedding cake was published, the club made smaller versions of the cake for their menu.
And just recently, former President Bill Clinton attended an event at City Tavern Club, according to Bello.
“It’s just fun American history that you don’t get anywhere unless you go digging for it,” Bello says.