Marine veteran Monty Dahm has long wanted to build a replica of Tun Tavern, the legendary birthplace of the U.S. Marine Corps, near its original site in Philadelphia.
Earlier this month, he reached an agreement to buy a restaurant in Old City Philadelphia that he plans to rechristen as Tun Tavern, hopefully in time for the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps’ founding this Nov. 10, he said.
“I’ve always wanted to do it in Philadelphia,” Dahm told Task & Purpose recently. “I’m a block-and-a-half away from Independence Hall. I’m on the same block across the street from the Revolutionary War museum. I’m also a block away from the original site of the Tun Tavern.”
But Dahm is not alone. The nonprofit The Tun Legacy Foundation is pursuing a similar project. The group’s planned replica, which would be known as “The Tun,” would be located roughly a block away from where Dahm plans to open his Tun Tavern.
In Marine lore, the original Tun Tavern is known as the spot where the first Marines signed enlistments on November 10, 1775. Just blocks from Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, the tavern was a hotbed of recruiting and early American activism, but burned down in 1781.
Dahm, who owns the trademark to “Tun Tavern,” has filed a lawsuit against The Tun Legacy Foundation, which is currently making its way through court.
“There was a group many years ago – it was several groups that tried to rebuild the Tun Tavern – and they didn’t make it, and they disbanded, and I ended up having the opportunity to buy the trademark from them,” Dahm said. “That’s what I did.”
The Tun Legacy Foundation announced in April 2024 that it purchased land to build its replica, which is expected to operate as a tavern that offers food and other refreshments influenced by Philadelphia’s colonial period, features historical documents and educational exhibits, and hosts special events.
“Zoning approval has been received and a construction permit has been issued,” Craig Mills, a board member of The Legacy Foundation, said in a statement to Task & Purpose about the project’s status that did not mention Dahm’s lawsuit. “We are working to finalize funding to secure a construction loan and begin construction. This is an expensive undertaking and it is going to take time to do it accurately and do it right. This is a faithful rebuild.”
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Once funding is secured, construction of The Tun is expected to take 16 months, said Pat Dailey, who founded the Tun Legacy project and is the foundation’s president.
The foundation’s officials and many board members include Marines veterans.
“We have a formidable board and advisory committee of well-respected Marines, Pennsylvania Freemasons, and leaders of the fraternal organizations with a heritage at the Tun, along with the commitment, involvement and support of thousands of donors who believe in our Foundation’s mission,” Mills, a Marine veteran, said in the statement.
Dahm served in the Marines from 1984 to 1988 and left the Corps as a corporal. If he closes on the agreement of sale, Dahm plans to open the Philadelphia Tun Tavern this fall, and then close in 2026 to add a façade and two stories to the building, he said.
“It will look just like it is, as a bar and restaurant now. But in the second phase, we’re going to do a complete renovation, maybe even down to the ground, and rebuild the Tun Tavern the way we think it looked,” Dahm said.
Additionally, Dahm is forming a separate non-profit group to which a portion of the restaurant’s profits will be donated for veterans organizations, he said.
Dahm has owned Tun Tavern Restaurant & Brewery in Atlantic City, New Jersey, since 1998. He said he found his location for his new restaurant after an extensive search of sites in Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood.
He said his goal in opening a new Tun Tavern is to give visitors a sense of the original tavern’s historical significance.
“This is for everyone,” Dahm said. “I guess it really is for people of the United States, but it’s for people of the world. It’s for Marines. It’s all about patriotism, recreating the history for our nation, because that’s really where our nation was formed, was at the Tun Tavern. We should all come there and celebrate.”
