It is said that the large number of old taverns in the town is accounted for by the fact that when Levi Pease was running his stage line he could not afford to pay high rents in Boston and so made Shrewsbury his headquarters. The Pease and Harrington Taverns are located in the center of the town, some distance to the north of the car line, the car passing through the little hamlet of Southville.

​

The Pease Tavern was the principal stopping place of travelers on the old stagecoach line. It was first occupied by Major John Farrar, an officer in the Revolution, as an inn, and when Washington visited the house on his journey to New England, Farrar became by far the most prominent man in the community.  Later he sold the place to Levi Pease, who maintained its traditions, and it is said that its tables afforded something better to drink than water from the noted sulfur spring which is near the tavern.

​

Not far from the tavern is the site of the home of a Native American, Old Brazel as he was known, who lived there with his wife Nancy. Brazel is said to have been a pirate at one time, although in Shrewsbury he pursued the peaceful vocation of a peddler of baskets made by his wife.  When not selling baskets, he could be found outside the door of the inn telling tall tales of his past life, which would make children scatter from him in terror.