[5] Elements of the French Army, on the way back from the victory over the British at Yorktown in 1781, camped near the tavern.

In the 1780s, Spurrier had financial problems and in June 1788, to protect his assets, conveyed much of his personal property, including Brown's Purchase and the tavern to his son John.

[7] Thomas Twining, a British passenger on a stage coach trip from Baltimore to Georgetown in April 1796, described Spurrier's as a "solitary inn" at which they "found the usual substantial American breakfast".

[9] The Maryland Chancery Court ordered the tavern property and other lands to be sold to settle John Spurrier's estate.

Rosalie Stier Calvert bought the tavern and land with her father's money at public auction in June 1811 for $20,000.

[10] The Stiers were a Belgian aristocratic family that came to the United States as refugees from the European wars of the 1790s.

Circumstances forced her Stier relations to return to Belgium and Rosalie Calvert's father left Riversdale to her along with funds to invest for her children.

[14] In constructing the new turnpike, the road was rerouted further west, just south of the tavern so as not to distance it from passing traffic.

Rosalie Calvert also bought 505 acres (204 ha) of land along the north–south road, in part to prevent anyone from building a tavern in competition with hers.

[14] With the development of Washington City as the federal capital, stage coach traffic on the Baltimore-Washington road was growing.

In October 1816, Rosalie Calvert wrote to her father, living in Belgium, a status report on the prospering tavern.

Baynes shows the inn as a tall two-story 3-bay wide structure with front porch, lantern, and sign servicing stagecoaches.

[18] By the late spring of 1835, construction was complete, the tracks had all been laid and the B&O company started running trains to Washington.

In the late 1830s, the family lived at the Waterloo property during warmer weather while Thomas Morris was effecting repairs to make the old tavern building suitable as a year-round residence.

[23] The name did not stick and the property was known as Waterloo in the land records after Thomas Morris died.

[24] Ultimately, through a lawsuit, in 1846, Thomas Morris was able to obtain an additional $11,000+ for the devalued state of the tavern property but little else from George Calvert's estate.

All but the Anvil, including Waterloo Farm, were sold to David P. Hayes, who continued to own some of the property as late as 1891.

The text of the markers has changed slightly over the years, adding some detail and removing notice of its being the place where George Washington's horse died.