“We ask only to be reassured about the noises in the cellar and the window that should not have been open.”- T.S. Eliot
Guided by the light of the moon and a lantern, my friend and I joined the Ghost Tours of New Hope on a Saturday evening for an hour stroll in September. With a hint of Fall in the air, we followed our guides up Ferry Street.
Now in its 41st.year, Ghost Tours of New Hope was originally started by Adi-Kent Thomas Jeffrey. Ms. Jeffrey was a paranormal investigator and author of several books including “Ghosts in the Valley” and the “Bermuda Triangle”. She said that New Hope had more ghosts in one square mile than anywhere else in the world.
As we followed our guide up Ferry Street, there were tales of the macabre, of ghostly apparitions and the stories behind them. Rich in history, New Hope was settled by the Lenni-Lenape Indian Tribe thousands of years ago. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington and his troops stayed in town preparing for the Battle of Trenton. Originally called Coryell’s Ferry, New Hope was a working mill town in the early 1800s.
It is no surprise that some of these long-gone spirits continue to haunt New Hope. Residents of the row homes on Ferry Street have attested to hearing a woman’s screams and a baby crying. Researchers uncovered a grisly tale and a buried skull in the backyard. There have been reported sightings of a woman in white at the corner of Ferry & Stockton Ave.
Guests at the Wedgwood Inn have seen the boots of Colonel Buckley who once lived there and a young girl Sarah, who was traveling the Underground Railroad, which ran under the Inn. The spirit of a young boy tragically killed on the site of the New Hope-Solebury Library was seen by a former librarian.
Aaron Burr, who killed Alexander Hamilton in their famous duel, has been spotted several times in New Hope. He was reported to have frequently visited a girlfriend in town. He now has a namesake inn in town, the Aaron Burr House.
The tour ends at the Logan Inn, famous for Emily’s Room, Room Number 6. Many guests have reported seeing a man behind them in the mirror. The Inn housed soldiers during the Revolutionary War who have appeared frequently in the hallways to overnight guests.
Our guide Phyllis and her husband were a wealth of ghostly information and were happy to answer all the group’s questions. If you’re planning a getaway to Bucks County, be sure to plan your Ghost Tour of New Hope! The public tour is $10 per person and runs Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. from June through November, with the addition of Friday nights and Halloween night during October.
Although it was a warm summer evening when I took the tour, I felt a strange chill in the air. I highly recommend an evening of supernatural delights!
