Haunted hotel guide · Marietta, Pennsylvania
The Haunted Railroad House Inn, Marietta: Room 6, Anne Marie and the Ghosts of a Canal Town Inn
A red brick inn on the Susquehanna, built for canal men in 1823, with nine rooms upstairs, a busy restaurant downstairs and a Room 6 that guests do not forget.
The Railroad House Inn stands at 280 West Front Street in Marietta, a small river town in western Lancaster County, facing the old railroad station and the Northwest River Trail along the Susquehanna. It was built in 1823 to house canal workers and travelers, and over two centuries it has been a tavern, a railroad hotel, a boarding house, a 1960s coffee house, a 1970s disco and a Victorian bed and breakfast.
Since 2015 it has been run by Freddy States and Joey Bowden, who reopened the inn in fall 2020 with nine refreshed rooms upstairs, a restaurant and bars on the first floor, the Perry Street Cellar and an events space in the old carriage house. The inn’s own site sells it on history and food rather than ghosts, but the stories told by staff, owners and guests over the decades have made it one of the better-known haunted hotels in Pennsylvania.
Railroad House at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 280 West Front Street, Marietta, PA 17547, across from the old station and the river trail
- Built 1823, as a boarding house for canal workers and travelers
- Most haunted spots Room 6, Room 8, the bar, the gardens and the summer kitchen
- Best-known ghosts The white lady Anne Marie, a little girl in Victorian dress, and former owner Thomas Scott
- Booking the haunted room Rooms are booked through the inn’s own reservation page; call the inn to ask for Room 6 or Room 8.
- Good to know Nine rooms, all on the second floor or above with no elevator and no accessible rooms. No breakfast is served (there is a Keurig and a coupon for a cafe nearby). Parking on Perry Street.
The ghosts of The Railroad House Inn
Anne Marie, the lady in white
The inn’s most famous ghost is Anne Marie, said to have been a gardener. She is seen in a long white Victorian dress in the gardens and near the outdoor bar, and the story goes that she shows herself mostly to men traveling alone. Our older guide called her “Annie” and described her as flirtatious. She is also tied to Room 6, where a woman in white has been seen crying at the window.
Who she really was is unclear. We have not found a record of a gardener by that name, so treat her identity as part of the inn’s folklore.
Room 6
Room 6 is the room people ask for. Guests report banging inside the walls, sudden cold spots and the feeling of someone sitting down on the bed. Local tradition says someone died by suicide in the room, which is often given as the reason for the activity. We have not been able to confirm that story.
The man in Room 8
Guests in Room 8 describe waking to find a figure standing at the foot of the bed. A former employee napping upstairs said she felt something climb into bed beside her and heard a voice say, “Move over, you’re taking up all the room.”
The little girl in the bar mirror
A former chef said he saw a little girl in a Victorian dress reflected in the bar mirror, and then saw her again on the stairway. Our original guide described her as having long blonde hair and blamed her for moving things around in the kitchen.
Thomas Scott and the summer kitchen
Thomas Scott, the railroad executive who owned the building in the 19th century, is said to greet staff at the bar. A waitress described a man at the bar who said “Hello” and vanished. Scott died in 1881, yet the Chambers family, who owned the inn from 1989, say they found an invoice signed with his name dated 1900 during renovations.
In the summer kitchen loft, now a private dining room, two couples once said they watched an elderly woman knitting in a rocking chair before she and the chair disappeared. Others mention the sound of a typewriter in a room without one and footsteps when the building is empty.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Room 6: The most haunted room, with banging in the walls, cold spots, a presence on the bed and the lady in white at the window.
- Room 8: Where guests report a figure at the foot of the bed.
- The bar: Look in the mirror for the little girl, and listen for Thomas Scott’s “Hello”.
- The gardens and patio: Anne Marie’s territory. Guests can use the patio outside restaurant and event hours.
- The summer kitchen: The original summer kitchen, now a private dining room, where the knitting woman was seen.
History of The Railroad House Inn
Marietta grew up as a river and canal town, and the Railroad House was built in 1823 as a three-story brick boarding house for the canal workers and travelers passing through. Later it served as a tavern called the Depot House, and when the railroad arrived it became the Railroad Hotel, facing the station across the street.
In the late 19th century it was owned by Thomas Scott, a railroad executive and industrialist. By the 1940s a Mrs. Bell ran it as a boarding house, and at one time it was a private home. In the 1960s John DeVitry and John Westenhoefer bought it, hand-dug the cellar and opened a coffee house; Jane Fonda is said to have visited in 1972. In the 1970s it became a disco.
Richard and Donna Chambers bought the building in 1989 and ran it as a Victorian restaurant and bed and breakfast into the 2000s, and Eric Farr and Tracy Beam owned it from 2008 to 2015. The inn has come through several major Susquehanna floods, and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 flooded the cellar and first floor.
Freddy States and Joey Bowden took over the restaurant in 2015 and bought the rest of the building in 2020. When the pandemic closed the inn in March 2020 they used the time to relay the 4,200-brick patio, turn the carriage house into an events venue and the summer kitchen into a private dining room, and refurbish the guest rooms, which reopened that fall.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Call the inn to ask for Room 6 (or Room 8 if it is taken) rather than relying on the online booking page.
- All nine rooms are up at least one flight of stairs, with no elevator, so pack light.
- No breakfast is served, so plan on the coffee maker in the inn or the nearby cafe coupon. Dinner runs Wednesday to Saturday, with brunch on Sunday.
- Sit at the bar and keep an eye on the mirror, then walk the gardens after dark.
- Walk or cycle the Northwest River Trail across the street by day.
- Gettysburg is about an hour away, so you can add a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt at the Gettysburg Academy or the Cashtown Inn.
Want to investigate, not just sleep?
Sleeping in a haunted hotel is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through the building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and lets you explore on your own during free roam.
- 1810 Gettysburg Academy Ghost Hunt and Overnight VIP: A school that became a Civil War field hospital, about an hour southwest.
- Haunted Cashtown Inn Ghost Hunt and Sleepover: Confederate headquarters west of Gettysburg, with the whole inn booked.
- Fort Mifflin Ghost Hunt: The Revolutionary War fort on the Delaware River in Philadelphia.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Farnsworth House Inn, Gettysburg: Gettysburg’s best-known haunted inn, about an hour away
- Haunted places in Lancaster: the county’s other ghost stories
- Haunted places in York: just across the Susquehanna
- Haunted hotels in Gettysburg: the state’s biggest cluster of haunted places to stay
- Haunted hotels in Pennsylvania
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Railroad House Inn haunted?
It has a long-standing reputation. Owners, staff and guests describe a lady in white in the gardens and Room 6, a little girl in the bar mirror, a figure at the foot of the bed in Room 8, and a former owner, Thomas Scott, greeting staff at the bar. These are reported experiences rather than proven events.
What is the most haunted room at the Railroad House Inn?
Room 6. Guests report banging in the walls, cold spots, a presence sitting on the bed and a woman in white crying at the window.
Who is Anne Marie at the Railroad House?
The inn’s lady in white, said to have been a gardener. She is seen in the gardens and near the outdoor bar, mostly by men traveling alone, and is also linked to Room 6. Her identity is folklore; we have not found a record of her.
Does the Railroad House Inn serve breakfast?
No. It is not a bed and breakfast. Rooms have use of a Keurig, and guests get a coupon for a cafe a few blocks away. The restaurant serves dinner Wednesday to Saturday and brunch on Sunday.
How old is the Railroad House Inn?
It was built in 1823, which makes it over 200 years old.
Is the Railroad House Inn accessible?
The nine guest rooms are all on the second floor or above, with no elevator, and are not wheelchair accessible.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Discover Lancaster: Railroad House Inn
- Railroad House Inn: official website
- Lancaster County Magazine: The Railroad House Inn, Full Steam Ahead (2021)
- History Goes Bump: Railroad House Inn (2026)
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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