Haunted hotel guide · Sistersville, West Virginia

The Wells Inn, Sistersville: Ephraim Wells and the Pen in the Empty Office

An 1890s brick hotel built at the height of Sistersville’s oil boom, where staff and guests say the man who built it, Ephraim Wells, has never really left.

By The Haunted Rooms Team · Updated November 2026 · How we rate hotels

2.8/5Haunted Rooms Score
1895Year opened
Third floorWhere the elevator comes from

Meet the ghosts

In the early 1890s, oil turned the quiet Ohio River town of Sistersville into one of the richest places in West Virginia. The Wells Inn was built in 1894 and 1895 to house the oilmen, investors and travelers who poured in. It is a three-story red brick hotel with a two-story verandah, a mosaic tile floor, oak furnishings and a tiled fireplace, and it has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972.

Its ghost is said to be Ephraim Wells, the man who built it and a grandson of the pioneer family whose daughters gave Sistersville its name. His portrait still hangs in the hotel. Staff and guests describe things moved while rooms are empty, doors that slam on their own, an elevator that comes down from the third floor with nobody aboard and, most memorably, the sound of writing in what was once his second-floor office. It is one of the most atmospheric stops on our list of haunted hotels in West Virginia.

The Wells Inn at a glance

2.8/5
Haunted Rooms Score
Haunted reputation3
History4
Ghost hunter access1
$ · Under $150
  • Address 316 Charles Street, Sistersville, WV 26175
  • Opened January 1895 (built 1894 to 1895); on the National Register since 1972
  • Most haunted spots The third floor, the elevator and the old office
  • Best-known ghosts Ephraim Wells moving things, slamming doors and writing in his old office
  • Booking the haunted room No single room is singled out. Call the inn on (304) 652-1312 and ask for an upper-floor room.
  • Good to know A small independent inn that does not always appear on booking sites, so call to check availability and current dining hours.

The ghosts of The Wells Inn

Ephraim Wells, still at work

The ghost at the Wells Inn is almost always named as Ephraim Wells, who built the hotel and opened it in 1895. The stories describe a man who still keeps an eye on his property.

Guests and staff say belongings get moved around while no one is present, doors slam on their own, and footsteps walk the halls and passageways at night. One maid said the door of Room 324 pulled itself shut three times before opening normally on the fourth try.

The elevator from the third floor

One of the most repeated stories is about the elevator. It is said to come down from the third floor often when no one is around to call it, arriving empty.

Old elevators do misbehave, so this one may have a mechanical explanation. Still, it has been part of the inn’s story for many years.

The pen in the empty office

The strangest report is the quietest. People say they have heard the sound of someone writing inside Ephraim Wells’s former office on the second floor, with nobody inside.

It is the kind of detail that sticks, and it fits the story of a busy businessman who built a hotel in an oil boom and never quite stopped working.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

  • Third-floor rooms: The floor the elevator is said to come down from on its own. Ask for an upper-floor room when you call.
  • Room 324: Where a maid said the door pulled itself shut three times in a row.
  • The second-floor office: Ephraim Wells’s old office, where people hear writing. Ask the staff which room it was when you check in.
  • The verandah: The two-story verandah is the inn’s signature feature. Sit out here in the evening and look out over Charles Street.

History of The Wells Inn

Sistersville takes its name from two sisters. Pioneer Charles Wells settled the riverbank here with his family, and after his death his daughters, Sarah Wells McCoy and Delilah Wells Grier, inherited the land in 1815 and laid out the town, which until then had been known as Wells Landing.

For most of the 1800s it stayed small. Then, in 1891, the Joshua Russell Pole Cat No. 1 well confirmed the great Sistersville oil field. The town grew almost overnight, from 469 people in the 1890 census to 2,979 in 1900, with reports of 15,000 at the peak of the boom. In 1893 Sistersville briefly called itself the oil capital of the world.

Ephraim Wells, a grandson of Charles Wells and son of Eli Wells, built the Wells Hotel to serve the boom. Designed by W. H. O’Neil and built by O’Neil and John Rea for an estimated $30,000 with furnishings, it opened in January 1895 with 28 guest rooms advertised as “furnished in first class style.” It was counted among the finest hotels between Wheeling and Parkersburg. Our original guide gave 1896 as the founding year; the National Register record and local histories point to 1895.

After the boom faded, the hotel changed hands and closed several times. In 1965 J. Wells Kinkaid, a grandson of Ephraim Wells, bought it, restored it and reopened it as the Wells Inn. After a winter storm damaged it in 1994, the Boyd family bought and renovated it, adding an indoor pool and exercise room.

The inn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 5, 1972. By 2010 it had been closed for two years and unheated for three, and burst pipes had caused hundreds of leaks. Charles and Kim Winslow bought it that June for $350,000, gutted the interior and began taking guests again that September, with plans to reopen the basement Wooden Derrick Pub, which had been the town’s only public bar until 2005. A 2019 listing on Clio described the inn as open for meals and overnight stays under the Winslows.

Tips for a haunted stay

  • Call the inn on (304) 652-1312 to book; it is small and does not always show on booking sites.
  • Ask for an upper-floor room if you want to be near the elevator stories.
  • Ride the Sistersville Ferry across the Ohio River to Fly, Ohio, a crossing that has run for well over a century.
  • Walk the old oil boom streets around Charles Street in the evening.
  • The Blennerhassett Hotel in Parkersburg is about 45 minutes down the river for a second haunted night.
  • Check the inn’s current dining and opening hours before you go, as they have changed over the years.

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.

See West Virginia ghost hunts

More haunted hotels nearby

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 Wells Inn in Sistersville haunted?

It has that reputation. Staff and guests say Ephraim Wells, who built the inn, moves things, slams doors, sends the elevator down from the third floor and can be heard writing in his old office.

Who was Ephraim Wells?

A grandson of Charles Wells, whose daughters founded Sistersville. He built the Wells Inn during the oil boom and opened it in 1895.

When was the Wells Inn built?

In 1894 and 1895, at the height of the Sistersville oil boom. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972.

Why is it called Sistersville?

Because two sisters, Sarah Wells McCoy and Delilah Wells Grier, inherited the land in 1815 and laid out the town.

How do I book the Wells Inn?

The inn is small and independent, so the most reliable way is to call it directly on (304) 652-1312.

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.

Get new haunted hotel guides by email

New guides, haunted hotel picks and ghost hunt dates near you. No spam, unsubscribe any time.

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.

Booking links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.