Ghost Hunting - Ready to be Scared?

This weekend Dh and I went to New Hope, Pennsylvania and decided to check out their famous Ghost Tour. New Hope is said to be the most haunted town in the United States. It’s a cool place along the Delaware River with historical buildings, eclectic shops, art studios, B&Bs, restaurants and pubs.

Many of the houses date back to the 1700s. Dh and I stayed in the 1870 Wedgwood Inn , named after the Englishman Josiah Wedgwood who invented the famous Wedgwood blue bone china. The inn has some interesting history which is connected to the Ghost Tour. I’ll explain more later.

We took the tour Saturday night and learned that the New Hope Ghost Tour is the longest running ghost tour in the US and possibly in the world. Adi-Kent Thomas Jeffrey began the tour in 1981. She’s an author and paranormal investigator. She’s known for several books including: Ghost in the Valley, Across the Land from Ghost to Ghost, and Bermuda Triangle.

I have to recommend the ghost tour. It was a lot of fun. The history was fascinating and the ghost stories creepy, and they gave me chills more than one time. Cameras were welcomed and encouraged. Sometimes people report sensing “things”. A tap on the shoulder, a scent, an image in a window. Others photographed orbs or images. A few people said they captured orbs on their camera. Orbs are thought to be spirit energy but can also be camera artifacts caused by raindroplets, dust and insects.

Logan Inn, New Hope

A couple stops we made on our tour: The Logan Inn. The oldest continuing running Inn in the US and probably the most haunted. During the Civil War, bodies of soldiers were stored in the basement of the Logan Inn in the winter time when the ground was too frozen to dig graves. When there were too many bodies, they began cremating them. A few woke up during the cremation. Today, soldiers are seen roaming the halls. Another ghost is said to be the daughter of the original owner who tucks guest in at night, opens drawers, moves furniture. People also report hearing voices.

One house we passed has an apartment upstairs. The woman living up there says many times she comes home and cabinets and drawers are open but the apartment is locked up tight. She closes everything and gets up the next morning and the cabinets and drawers are open again.

In one story, she tells about a pair of pearl earrings she received as a gift from her dad. And one time she was putting them on but dropped one, and it fell down between the boards in the floor. She didn’t want to pull up the board without asking her landlord’s permission, so she left it there expecting to check with the landlord the next day. When she woke up the next morning, the earring was on the pillow next to her. We have a picture of this house with a possible orb above the second window.  

 Possible Orb above middle window?

At the Wedgwood Inn where we stayed, the owner was planning an addition. As the contractor began excavation, he told the owner, “I think you need to see this.”

Trap door under table leading to secret tunnel

Under the ground between the gazebo and the house was a large tunnel. And beneath the floor of the gazebo was a trapdoor leading into the tunnel. The tunnel leads underneath the house.

Secret tunnel between gazebo and house

They determined it was part of the Underground Railroad. It was a vast network of people, secret routes, safe houses, tunnels and hidden rooms used to hide fugitive slaves during their escape to the north to freedom. People risked their lives to help these slaves. The owners of the Wedgwood Inn decided not to do the addition and preserve the tunnel as an historical site. In a room outside the dining room, there’s a viewing box that looks down into the tunnel. (see photo).

Viewing box that looks down into secret tunnel that hid fugitive slaves.

The Wedgwood Inn supposedly has two ghosts one of a 12 y/o slave girl who appears to tell her tale and an old waiter with a bloody shirt. I didn’t see either but took a picture in our room and perhaps photographed an orb? See the sphere over the fireplace.

Possible orb on fireplace?

There were many other stops but one particular story that gave me chills was called The Hitchhiker. Two couples were driving down a country road at night and saw a young man dressed in a brown jacket and brown pants, carrying a backpack. He had light blond hair and striking blue eyes.  They didn’t pick him up and continued for about five miles. Then they saw him again! They couldn’t believe it. There were no other side roads so it wasn’t possible for the guy to have gotten picked up and dropped off ahead of them and no car passed them. They again didn’t stop. Then, they entered New Hope and were crossing the particular bridge we were standing under in our tour. These couples saw the hitchhiker again. This time they stopped and asked if he’d like a ride. The guy didn’t say a word he just vanished. Other people in the area have reported seeing The Hitchhiker in the Bucks County area.

Happy ghost hunting. Have you been on a ghost tour? Where and what was your experience?