Dunham Tavern Museum Campus

The Dunham Tavern is the oldest building still standing on its original site in the city of Cleveland. Established in 1824, The Dunham property welcomed guests from 1842 to 1857, was a private residence until 1896, and became an office building in 1930. In 1936, the Dunham building was opened as a museum for Cleveland’s history.

The existing Dunham property covers approximately 5 acres between Chester Avenue, Euclid Avenue, E. 66th Street, and E. 69th Street. It is designated as a Cleveland Landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Museum and Tavern contains a collection, exhibition, and interpretation of early settler life in Cleveland. The site can be thought of as a witness and participant in a long history on Cleveland’s east side. The Dunham Tavern Museum’s goal is to become a more welcoming and inclusive, neighborhood and regional cultural destination through preservation, expansive programming, enhancing and connecting landscape experiences, and engaging new and diverse audiences. 

Begun in 2019, The Dunham Tavern Museum Master Plan responds to the priorities, objectives, and community feedback gathered over a year and a half long effort. The plan has evolved through several iterations. It preserves Dunham’s important history through the museum, barn, farm, orchard, and Gray and Klein gardens, while creating new landscape spaces, gardens, buildings, and programming—with the barn expansion, community farm pavilion, event lawn, and new circulation patterns with a complete Heritage Trail loop— that allow Dunham to build upon its cultural significance and community presence.