Haunted hotel guide · Greenville, Maine
The Haunted Greenville Inn at Moosehead Lake: A Lumber Baron's Mansion
A lumber baron’s Queen Anne mansion on a hill above Moosehead Lake, where the resident ghost is described as a sweet and friendly young woman.
The Greenville Inn stands on a rise above the town of Greenville and the southern tip of Moosehead Lake, Maine’s largest lake and the gateway to the North Woods. It was built in the 1890s as the home of William M. Shaw, a Greenville lumber businessman, and it still has the feel of a timber baron’s country estate: deep porches, fine woodwork and a view down to the water.
Today it takes guests in the main mansion, in suites and in cottages on the grounds, with breakfast served at private tables. Its ghost story is one of the gentlest in Maine: guests describe a friendly young woman, unexplained voices and the strange sound of tap dancing somewhere in the old house.
Greenville Inn at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 40 Norris Street, Greenville, ME 04441
- Built Begun about 1890 for lumberman William M. Shaw (also dated 1895); designed by Edwin E. Lewis; enlarged about 1905; listed on the National Register on October 16, 2013 as the William M. Shaw House
- Most haunted spots The rooms of the main mansion, especially Room 302, where tap dancing is said to be heard
- Best-known ghost A sweet, friendly young woman
- Booking the haunted room No room is sold as haunted; ask for Room 302 or another room in the main mansion
- Good to know Book by phone on (207) 695-2206; breakfast included; moose watching, the lake and winter sports nearby
The ghost of the Greenville Inn
The friendly young woman
The story told about the Greenville Inn is that a beautiful young woman appears in the house. OnlyInYourState says a few lucky guests have seen her and that she seems very friendly, and HauntedPlaces.org calls her a friendly ghost. Nobody has put a name to her, and there is no published story connecting her to the Shaw family or to any later owner, so she remains a mystery.
Voices and tap dancing
Guests have also reported unexplained voices in the house, and something more unusual: the sound of feet tap dancing when nobody is dancing. HauntedPlaces.org places the tap dancing in Room 302. It is the detail that makes the inn’s story stick in people’s minds, though it is worth knowing that New England has another famous tap-dancing ghost, Boots Berry at the Green Mountain Inn in Stowe, Vermont, and stories do travel.
A skeptic would also point to an old wooden house in a cold climate, with floors and pipes that tick and knock as they warm and cool. Guests who have heard it are less sure.
What the inn says
The Greenville Inn does not talk about its ghost on its website; it presents itself as a historic country inn. The stories come from guests and have been retold in Maine haunted guides. If you want to hear more, ask your hosts, and stay in the main house, where the reports come from.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The main mansion: Where the young woman is reported and where guests hear the voices.
- Room 302: The room named for the tap dancing. Ask for it by number when you call.
- The porches: Not part of the stories, but the best place to sit on a summer evening with the lake below.
- The cottages: Later additions on the grounds, with no reported activity.
History of Greenville Inn at Moosehead Lake
Greenville grew up at the foot of Moosehead Lake as the supply town for Maine’s North Woods logging industry. Timber came down the lake and the rivers, and the men who ran the lumber business did very well. William M. Shaw (1861 to 1936) was one of them: his interests included a sawmill, a lumber yard, a store and the M. G. Shaw Company, which owned timberland and ran the lake steamer Katahdin, still afloat in Greenville today. Around 1890 he began building a grand house on Norris Street, on the hill above the town.
The house was designed by Edwin E. Lewis of Gardiner, Maine, the same architect and builder credited with the LimeRock Inn in Rockland. Accounts differ on when it was finished: the National Register nomination says construction began about 1890, and the house is also dated to 1895. It is a Queen Anne house with a large hip-roofed block, two gables over bay windows on the south side, decorative cut shingles in the gables and a long open porch leading to a covered entrance.
Around 1905 the Bangor architect Wilfred E. Mansur enlarged the carriage house and built the ell that connects it to the main house. In the mid-twentieth century the house became an inn, and two cabins were built on the grounds. Today there are six guest cottages on the 4.5-acre property alongside the rooms in the mansion.
The house has had several owners as an inn, each of whom has worked to keep its woodwork and architectural detail. On October 16, 2013 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the William M. Shaw House, recognized both for its architecture and for its link to Shaw and Greenville’s lumber era. The inn describes itself as the only National Register inn on Moosehead Lake.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Book a room in the main mansion rather than a cottage if you want the ghost story.
- The inn takes bookings by phone on (207) 695-2206; call for packages and seasonal offers.
- Ask your hosts about the house and its woodwork, and about Room 302.
- Go moose watching at dawn or dusk; Greenville is one of the best bases in Maine for it.
- Come in summer for kayaking and hiking, or in winter for snowmobiling and ice fishing.
- Greenville is remote: fill up with gas and plan meals ahead outside the summer season.
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.
- Captain Grant's 1754 Inn Ghost Hunt & Sleepover, Preston, CT: A haunted colonial inn where you investigate all night, then sleep in it.
- Historic General Stanton Inn Ghost Hunt, Charlestown, RI: A colonial Rhode Island inn with an overnight VIP option.
- Haunted Fort William Henry Ghost Hunt, Lake George, NY: A night inside the reconstructed French and Indian War fort.
More haunted hotels nearby
- The Lucerne Inn, Dedham: a 200-year-old inn above Phillips Lake, near Bangor
- LimeRock Inn, Rockland: another E. E. Lewis house, with the doctor’s patients on the stairs
- Captain Fairfield Inn, Kennebunkport: a sea captain’s mansion with a kindly ghost
- Haunted hotels in Maine
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 Greenville Inn haunted?
Guests report a beautiful, friendly young woman in the house, plus unexplained voices and the sound of tap dancing, which ghost directories place in Room 302.
Who built the Greenville Inn?
William M. Shaw, a Greenville lumber businessman, who began the house around 1890. It was designed by Edwin E. Lewis of Gardiner.
Is the Greenville Inn on the National Register of Historic Places?
Yes. It was listed in 2013 as the William M. Shaw House.
Which room is haunted at the Greenville Inn?
No room is officially haunted, but HauntedPlaces.org says the tap dancing is heard in Room 302. The young woman is reported in the main mansion.
Where should I stay at the Greenville Inn for the ghost?
In the main mansion. The cottages are later additions and are not part of the stories.
How do I book the Greenville Inn?
Call the inn on (207) 695-2206 or use the contact details on its official website.
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.
- Greenville Inn at Moosehead Lake: official site
- Visit Maine: Greenville Inn at Moosehead Lake
- Wikipedia: William M. Shaw House
- OnlyInYourState: 10 haunted hotels in Maine
- HauntedPlaces.org: Greenville Inn at Moosehead Lake
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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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