General Wayne Inn, Merion Station, Pennsylvania
Brief history: Numerous ghosts have been experienced and apparitions seen in this inn that had been in continuous operation since 1704. Originally called The Wayside Inn, it was renamed in 1797 after the Revolutionary War, and it has been visited by such notables of the time as George Washington and LaFayette. Many other famous guest have stayed there, including Edgar Allen Poe, who wrote part of his famous poem The Raven there. In 1996 owner Guy Sileo murdered co-owner James Webb on the third floor of the building on the day after Christmas in a dispute over finances. But it might have been Silio’s mistress, Felicia, who killed Webb because he disapproved of the affair. Felicia later committed suicide.
Unfortunately, the inn closed around 2004 and and since been converted into the Chabad Center for Jewish Life, although “General Wayne Inn” is still displayed on the building’s side.
Ghosts: The haunting activity reported in this building has been substantial over the years:
Women seated in a row at the bar would, in succession, feel someone blow on the backs of their necks.
The ghost of a German Hessian soldier was seen by a staff member standing on the steps leading upstairs before fading away. She reported that he seemed just as startled to see her as she was to see him.
Another Hessian soldier has been seen in the basement, said to be searching for his uniform, of which he had been stripped.
The crying of a little boy ghost has been heard.
Ghosts of an unknown Native American and African American men have been spotted.
Psychic Mike Benio claimed that he made contact with a Hessian soldier named Ludwig, who made several appearances to Benio and said he had been killed during the Revolutionary War.
In 1986, an owner named Johnson and a friend were seated in the dining room when they saw a woman in period dress rush past them.
Kitchen appliances and towels have been thrown about; doors that were securely locked at night were found unlocked in the morning.
A luncheon hostess at the inn claimed to have seen soldiers in several places: the dining room, the bar, in the upstairs and in the private dining rooms.
