His son Elisha Phelps received the land from his father and expanded the house in 1771.

He died at age 43 in Albany, New York, on July 14, 1776, from diseases he contracted from the soldiers he cared for there.

The museum uses period rooms and interactive exhibits and galleries to interpret the use of the house as an inn from 1786 to 1849.

Three successive generations of the Phelps tavern-keepers are chronicled along with the social history of taverns in New England.

From Masonic meetings to ordination balls, the Phelps Tavern hosted townspeople and travelers who arrived by horse, stagecoach and canal.