Haunted hotel guide · Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
The Haunted Dobbin House Tavern and Gettystown Inn, Gettysburg: The Oldest House in Town and Its Ghosts
Reverend Alexander Dobbin’s 1776 stone house is now a candlelit colonial tavern, and staff and diners say a lady in blue, unseen children and a wounded soldier still share it. Overnight guests sleep next door in the Gettystown Inn.
The Historic 1776 Dobbin House Tavern sits at 89 Steinwehr Avenue, near the foot of Cemetery Hill, a short walk from the National Cemetery where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. Often described as the oldest building in Gettysburg, it predates the town’s role as county seat, and it has been a family home, a classical school, a hiding place on the Underground Railroad and a field hospital. Today it is a colonial tavern with staff in period dress, the casual Springhouse Tavern downstairs and the candlelit Alexander Dobbin Dining Rooms upstairs.
Overnight guests stay in the Gettystown Inn, the tavern’s guest houses next door, and take breakfast in the 1776 house. That arrangement matters if you are booking for the ghosts: most of the stories belong to the tavern building, where you can eat, drink and explore after dark, rather than to the guest rooms. It is one of the most atmospheric stops among the haunted hotels in Gettysburg.
Dobbin House at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 89 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA 17325, near the foot of Cemetery Hill
- Built 1776, by the Reverend Alexander Dobbin
- Most haunted spots The upstairs rooms and halls of the 1776 house, the stairs, the attic and the basement
- Best-known ghosts A woman in a blue gown, unseen children, a wounded soldier and, some say, the Dobbin family
- Booking the haunted room The guest rooms are in the Leister and Remembrance houses next door. Some guests report a fallen Union soldier in the Lee Suite and the Reynolds Room; book them direct with the inn.
- Good to know Breakfast in the tavern is included. No pets in the guest houses, and children must be 5 or older. Little Round Top Farm House is also rented but does not include breakfast.
The ghosts of Historic 1776 Dobbin House Tavern and Gettystown Inn
The lady in blue
The ghost staff talk about most is a woman in a blue gown seen in the upstairs rooms and halls of the 1776 house. Witnesses describe her as calm but sad, standing at a window or walking into a wall and vanishing. Some think she was a Civil War nurse; others suggest a mother still looking for a lost child. Nobody has identified her.
Children on the stairs
Staff and diners report children laughing and whispering and the sound of small feet running down the stairs when no children are in the building. Some say they have heard marbles rolling across the floor upstairs. With a family of ten children and later a boys’ school under this roof, there are plenty of candidates.
The wounded soldier
In the lower levels people report cold spots, a sudden wave of nausea and the sound of a man groaning in pain. Ghost tour companies describe a wounded soldier here, though accounts disagree on whether he wore blue or gray, and some staff prefer not to go down to the basement alone after dark. Guests in the Lee Suite and the Reynolds Room next door have also described the feeling of being with a fallen Union soldier.
Candles, dishes and doors
The tavern’s smaller stories come from the people who work there. Staff say they have heard their names whispered when they were alone and felt a tap on the shoulder with nobody behind them. Candles blow out with no draft, dishes fall from secure shelves, and doors open and close on their own. Diners mention sudden chills and a smell like antiseptic, which people tie to the house’s time as a hospital.
The Underground Railroad story
Our older guide said some people have seen the spirits of freedom seekers who hid in the house, and that the Reverend Dobbin himself checks in on his tavern. Those are among the gentler legends told here. The hiding place is real enough to see, but the ghost stories attached to it are tradition rather than documented accounts.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Upstairs in the 1776 house: The rooms and halls where the lady in blue is seen. Some are now dining rooms, including a bedroom where you can eat dinner in bed.
- The Underground Railroad hiding place: A concealed crawl space the tavern shows to visitors; ask your server if you can see it.
- The basement and lower levels: Where the wounded soldier is reported and where some staff would rather not go alone.
- Lee Suite and Reynolds Room (Leister House): Guest rooms next door where some guests have described the presence of a fallen Union soldier.
- The Gettysburg Address Overlook Suites: In the Remembrance House, with views toward the spot where Lincoln spoke.
History of Historic 1776 Dobbin House Tavern and Gettystown Inn
Alexander Dobbin was born in Ireland in 1742 and came to America with his wife, Isabella Gamble, to serve as pastor of the Rock Creek Presbyterian congregation. He bought 300 acres here in 1774 and in 1776 built a stone house with seven fireplaces, big enough for a large family and a school. Isabella bore him ten children before she died; he then married Mary Agnew, a widow with nine of her own.
Dobbin ran a classical school in the house, said to be the first of its kind west of the Susquehanna, preparing young men for the ministry and the professions. In 1800 he was one of the two commissioners who chose Gettysburg as the seat of the new Adams County. He died in 1809.
In the mid-1800s, according to the tavern’s history, a secret crawl space in the house was used to hide people escaping slavery on the Underground Railroad, and National Geographic later featured it. Historians note that hiding places like this are hard to document, so treat the details as a strong local tradition.
After the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 the house served as a hospital for wounded soldiers from both armies. Local accounts say amputated limbs were thrown from the windows and that the lawn stayed stained for years. The building was later restored with its native stone walls, seven fireplaces and hand-carved woodwork, furnished to match Dobbin’s estate inventory, and opened as a colonial tavern. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today the property includes the Springhouse Tavern, the Alexander Dobbin Dining Rooms, a banquet hall and gift shop, and the Gettystown Inn guest houses: the Leister House, with the Steinwehr, Stuart, Reynolds and Meade rooms and the Lee Suite, and the Remembrance House, with Aunt Holly’s Garden Suite and two Gettysburg Address Overlook Suites.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Book dinner in the Alexander Dobbin Dining Rooms a week or more ahead, and ask for an upstairs room for the best chance of meeting the lady in blue.
- The Springhouse Tavern downstairs takes no reservations, so it is the easy option after an evening ghost tour on Steinwehr Avenue.
- Ask to see the Underground Railroad hiding place.
- Request the Lee Suite or the Reynolds Room when you book the Gettystown Inn if you want the rooms with soldier stories.
- Cancellations need two days’ notice for a full refund, and pets are not allowed, so plan ahead.
- The Gettysburg Academy, where Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts, is a ten-minute walk away.
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, a short walk from the Dobbin House.
- Haunted Cashtown Inn Ghost Hunt and Sleepover: Confederate headquarters eight miles west of town, with the whole inn booked.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Farnsworth House Inn, Gettysburg: a few minutes’ walk up Baltimore Street
- Hotel Gettysburg (Gettysburg Hotel): on Lincoln Square, home to the nurse ghost Rachel
- Cashtown Inn, near Gettysburg: Confederate headquarters with a cellar hospital
- Haunted places in Gettysburg: the battlefield, the orphanage and the town’s other haunts
- Haunted hotels in Pennsylvania
- Haunted hotels in Gettysburg
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 Dobbin House haunted?
It is one of the most talked-about haunted buildings in Gettysburg. Staff and diners report a woman in a blue gown upstairs, children running on the stairs, a wounded soldier in the lower levels, candles going out and doors moving on their own. These are reported experiences rather than proven events.
Can you stay overnight at the Dobbin House?
Yes, in the Gettystown Inn: the Leister House and Remembrance House next door, plus Little Round Top Farm House. Guests in the town houses get breakfast in the 1776 tavern.
How old is the Dobbin House?
It was built in 1776 by the Reverend Alexander Dobbin and is often described as the oldest building in Gettysburg.
Was the Dobbin House on the Underground Railroad?
The tavern says a secret crawl space was used to hide people escaping slavery in the mid-1800s, and you can still see it. It is a long-standing local tradition, though stations like this are rarely documented in written records.
Was the Dobbin House a hospital during the Civil War?
Yes. After the Battle of Gettysburg it was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers from both sides.
Do Gettysburg ghost tours visit the Dobbin House?
Yes. It sits on Steinwehr Avenue, where many of the town’s ghost tours start, and it features on several of them.
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.
- Dobbin House: History
- Dobbin House: Gettystown Inn rooms
- Ghost City Tours: The haunted Dobbin House
- Gettysburg Ghosts: Ghosts of the Dobbin House Tavern
- The Takeout: Dobbin House Tavern
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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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