A NATIONAL HISTORIC INN

In 1754, Captain William Grant built a “suitable” home in Poquetanuck Village for his beloved wife Mercy, and their children. Even though Captain Grant later died at sea, this Revolutionary home served the family well. Mrs. Mercy lived there well into her 80’s. Three generations of Grants followed her.

According to the inn’s website, this home took part in two early gruesome wars in the nation’s history. During the Revolutionary War, the soldiers of the Continental Army were garrisoned there. Later on during the Civil War, escaped slaves were sheltered there.

The house underwent a significant renovation in the mid-1990’s, and now features numerous named rooms, six working fireplaces, and a three-story porch. Poquetanuck’s first cemetery is also located behind the inn. Today the property actually includes three historical buildings. The original, referred to as “The Home” is on the National Register of Historic Places. It remains a stately beauty in this 1687 Village. The second building, known as “The Avery Home” which lies adjacent to the main Inn. The Avery Home was built in 1790 and is also on the National Register of Historic Places. The third, “The Stagecoach Inn”, was built in 1790.

There are many reasons why this inn is such a celebrated haunted property. After all, CNN in 2003 declared this inn as one to stay in if you’d like to encounter a ghost.  Sustaining two incredible wars and having a very old cemetery behind the property are two good sound reasons. Add a “lost at sea” element to it and you have a perfect trifecta!

Mercy Adelaide Avery is the inn’s most famous spirit. She also happens to be buried in the cemetery adjacent to the inn.  She haunts the inn, waiting in vain for her beloved husband; Captain William Grant (who was lost at sea) to return home. Adelaide has a room named after her and has made it a habit to pull the shower curtain off its rod even after it is glued and nailed on. Guests have awakened in the middle of the night to see a woman dressed in Colonial-era clothes, holding hands with two children standing at the end of the bed! She sometimes plays with the TV, turning it off and on. Adelaide has also been seen on the inn’s main staircase.

There are other phantoms in the buildings as well, making themselves known with strange knocking and visual strange shapes that form before the guests’ eyes. Stories tell that once a teenage boy had the scare of his life when he shouted; “Is anyone here?” while standing in the cemetery. Right after a mist proceeded to come out of one of the gravestones. One of the other resident ghosts of the inn, a little girl named Deborah Adams is buried in the cemetery. She has also been seen in the Adelaide room and made a nonbelieving employee change her mind when she walked right through her.

This property has been featured on multiple television shows, including A&E’s Psychic Kids and If Walls Could Talk.

* Listing information and/or photos were researched on the Internet and provided by a third-party, article or property owner's website and is deemed accurate, but not guaranteed, to the best of our knowledge.