The Eagle Tavern, built in the late 18th century, once stood on the site of the present Lafayette Hotel. A stage coach stop on the Augusta to Macon line, the tavern, owned by Mr. A. Abercrombie, was the scene of a great ball held for the Marquis de LaFayette in 1825. Burned in the late 1830s, the tavern was replaced by the present structure in 1840, when it was known as the Edwards' House. Renamed the Drummer's Home in 1897, it was, in 1900, voted by traveling men the most popular hotel in Georgia and received a silver wine dispenser from the Georgia Hotel Association.