Is Longfellow’s Wayside Inn Haunted?

Longfellow’s Wayside Inn

The ghost of a woman struck by a broken heart reportedly roams the halls of this centuries-old inn

Paranormal Reports at
Longfellow’s Wayside Inn

  • The inn's piano reportedly plays by itself
  • The scent of citrus perfume is encountered in strange places
  • Sounds of disembodied crying have been reported in certain rooms
  • Water faucets reportedly turn themselves on and off
  • Guests in Room 9 say they are awakened by a woman's apparition in their room
  • Visitors report feeling an unseen force brush by them on the stairs

Hospitable History of
Longfellow’s Wayside Inn

Looking like a cross between a colonial-era mansion and a hay barn, Longfellow’s Wayside Inn looks right at home in the hilly, woodsy area outside Sudbury, Massachusetts.

The faded red inn looks so natural in its position just beyond the short stone wall at the property line that you might think the building sprouted up from the ground like the trees around it. And, at this point, it may as well have.

An inn since 1716, Longfellow’s Wayside Inn predates both the United States and many of the revolutionaries who made the nation a reality. Over those 300+ years, the Wayside Inn has greeted a lot of people and seen many pass on.

Now, it seems, a few of those souls still linger in the guest rooms of the oldest continually operating inn in the country.

Timeline of Longfellow’s Wayside Inn's History

Swipe or use timeline points to see Longfellow’s Wayside Inn through the years

1707

David Howe’s vision for the countryside Massachusetts property was simple at first. He built a small single family home there in 1707. But, it wasn’t long before he saw the potential his plot of land had. Right between Boston and Worcester, the nearby Boston Post Road saw continuous traffic, with many weary travelers looking for a warm place to spend a night.

So, in 1716, David Howe expanded his property to include a spacious inn, Howe’s Tavern. The venture proved successful almost immediately.

1861

After David’s death, his son Ezekiel took over Howe’s Tavern, serving as innkeeper for the rest of his life. He stopped only briefly to join the Sudbury Minutemen at the outset of the American Revolution. Two more generations of Howes ran the inn after him, until Lyman Howe took over in the early 1800s. It was said that Lyman was a poor innkeeper and scared away business.

When Lyman died without a wife or children in 1861, it seemed that the inn would close for good. But, new investors reopened it, this time as the Red Horse Tavern.

1862

In 1862, just a year after Howe’s death, the new Red Horse Tavern greeted a famous face: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow was already a respected writer, but, after the death of his wife in 1861, had unshakable writer’s block. Longfellow had turned to opium to cope and seemed destined to lose himself in the tragedy. His publisher pushed him to take time away at the Red Horse Tavern.

The stay inspired him to pen one of his most famous works: Tales of a Wayside Inn. In the years after, the Wayside Inn became synonymous with Longfellow’s work.

1945

As the 1800s gave way to the 1900s, the inn fell into further hardship and disrepair. But, in 1923 the property was bought by Henry Ford, who hoped to revitalize the inn and the surrounding land into a historical village.

Though Ford’s goal of a fully-functional village was not achieved, he restored the inn to its old grandeur and added numerous outbuildings to add to the rustic colonial charm of the property. Near his death in 1945, Ford left the inn to The Wayside Inn Foundation, which still operates the building today.

1955

Though many historical relics and furnishings added to the inn by Ford were destroyed in a 1955 fire, the inn’s close connection to far reaches of time remains as palpable as ever today. But, after surviving for so many years, greeting so many people, and going through as many changes as it did, the Wayside Inn has developed an additional reputation as an inn of mystery…and hauntings.

Whether its shadows, sounds, or scents, guests and workers alike say strange and downright unexplainable things happen at the Wayside. That’s led some to believe the oldest inn in America might also be the most haunted.

Is Longfellow’s Wayside Inn Haunted?

Many spooky claims are attributed to one ghost that many believe is the main spiritual resident of the Wayside Inn: Jerusha Howe. Jerusha was the sibling of innkeeper Lyman Howe and was the hostess for much of her life.

Allegedly, an Englishman once stayed at the inn during this time and immediately connected with Jerusha. He swore he would go to England to get his affairs in order before returning to marry her, but he left and never came back. Jerusha waited for him for the rest of her life, and now it’s said her heart-broken spirit lingers forever at the inn.

The Haunting of Room 9 at Wayside Inn

During her life, Jerusha lived in Room 9 and did a lot of sewing and other work in Room 10. As such, these two rooms and the stairs between them are supposedly hotbeds for ghostly activity today. Guests in Longfellow Wayside Inn’s most haunted room, Room 9, have reported the sensations of not being alone in the room, while others have actually reported seeing the apparition of Jerusha Howe lingering at the edge of their bed during the night.

Other visitors have said the room’s water faucets will turn on and off by themselves. Across the hall in Room 10, guests have claimed to hear the sound of a woman crying, and sometimes it is so loud that Room 9 occupants also report hearing it.

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Ghost of Jerusha Howe makes herself known

In the stairwell near Rooms 9 and 10, guests will often say they feel a force move by them, as if there is another person on the slim stairwell breezing by, but there isn’t actually anyone there.

Through the building, guests will report the strange smell of orange-scented perfume, which was Jerusha’s preferred scent in life. Guests spending time in the parlor will claim to hear the inn’s piano playing by itself at times, with many figuring it to be the work of Jerusha, who first brought piano music to the inn.

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The Mysterious Wayside Inn

Though the Wayside Inn’s operational schedule and its long list of events keep the staff rather busy, they keep themselves open to ghost stories and interested ghost hunters.

Several events held throughout the year focus on the supernatural side of the inn’s history. And guests hoping for more ghostly goodness are free to book the supposedly haunted rooms for themselves.

Additionally, the long-standing tradition of guests leaving hidden notes around rooms might allow for an even more in-depth look into the paranormal encounters of past visitors.

Whether you’re interested in a paranormal adventure or a quiet rustic retreat, there’s truly no place quite like the Wayside Inn. And, regardless of your reason for arrival, you’re likely to leave in the inn with a good few sideways stories from Wayside to share.