Cross Keys Inn
By Camerafiend - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Telephone Number:
Location:
599 Dorseyville Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15238
Description:
Cross Keys Inn is a historic building dating to around 1850 that originally served as a stagecoach stop and hotel along what is now Dorseyville Road in the Fox Chapel/Indiana Township area north of Pittsburgh, catering to travelers making the journey between Pittsburgh and points east and northeast during the era of horse‑drawn transportation. The structure’s long and varied life reflects changing patterns of travel and social life: in the late 19th century it functioned as a rural hotel with a front porch and upstairs sleeping rooms — an unusual plan for its time that accommodated overnight guests — and during Prohibition reportedly operated as a speakeasy, illustrating how such roadside inns adapted to shifting cultural and legal landscapes.
In its later decades the building hosted numerous bars and restaurants, and by the early 21st century it had become a celebrated local landmark known for its historic character, including original woodwork, exposed brick, intimate second‑floor rooms that once housed travelers, and a central wood‑burning fireplace. In the 2000s, restaurateurs undertook a sensitive restoration that respected the building’s historic fabric while creating a warmly detailed dining environment that highlights its rich past as both a community gathering place and a link to Pennsylvania’s stagecoach era.
Today the Cross Keys Inn continues as the home of a restaurant — currently Brick & Barrel — where patrons can enjoy wood‑fired cuisine amid evocative architectural reminders of its 19th‑century origins, from rustic fireplaces to vintage keys and historic photographs that recall its long history of hospitality and social life.
