This bed-and-breakfast inn used to be an actual jail, housing prisoners from 1797 until 1987. It was Kentucky’s oldest operating jail complex, listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. But some of the spirits of the incarcerated folks may never have left when the building changed purposes. Witnesses, including staff members, have heard residual sounds of diesmbodied footsteps and people crying.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 111 W Stephen Foster Ave
Bardstown, KY 40004
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 37.80915624969337, -85.46775312090148
- County:
- Nelson County, Kentucky
- Nearest Towns:
- Bardstown, KY (0.0 mi.)
Woodlawn, KY (5.6 mi.)
Fairfield, KY (9.8 mi.)
Bloomfield, KY (10.8 mi.)
Boston, KY (11.3 mi.)
New Haven, KY (12.4 mi.)
New Hope, KY (12.4 mi.)
Loretto, KY (12.6 mi.)
Lebanon Junction, KY (14.5 mi.)
Chaplin, KY (14.8 mi.)
Contact Information
- Web:
- http://www.jailersinn.com/
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
Holy crap that’s HAUNTED
Stayed at the Jailers Inn in Oct.2012. I have been ghosthunting for 20+ years,and this place had more activity than I have ever witnessed in one place. Strange noises,voices,a loud scream that woke the house up ,and finally my wife was touched on her shoulder,and felt/heard a female voice whisper “hello” in her ear.
Hi.
I don’t know if this will notify u KJ BUT worth a try…kj and anyone else ever staying there what room were u in..also where else on property did u get activity..i am goin in about a week..one day only the Heinrich is available but if I wait one more day then the Washington room is available. I want to have activity so was jus wondering which room is more likely to have it… thank u
I stayed here for my honeymoon in August of this year. The evening we arrived, we did Patty Starr’s Ghost Walk, which started out right across the street. We went to the Old Talbott Tavern and sat around some tables in a conference room in the dark. Patty asked the spirits to communicate with us. She got several spikes on the EMF meter, recorded a class A EVP on a digital recorder, and I think everyone there got pictures with lots of orbs. Some of the orbs landed in the hands of volunteers who had their hands stretched out. As she asked the spirits to go to their hands, they did, right on que!! The spirit also made the chandelier flicker if she asked if there were any spirits present upon walking into the room. She then asked the spirits to follow us to the old cemetery behind the Jailer’s Inn. We took many photos and I had one come back with a huge orange mist. She said that was very rare. I didn’t think much of it and we went back to our upstairs room at the Jailer’s Inn to wind down for the night. As I went in through our doorway and was starting to close the door, I saw what appeared to be a little girl in an orange dress running past the door. I opened the door to see who it was, although it didn’t register at the time that I hadn’t HEARD anything. There was no one there. Other than that, we didn’t have anything happen. But it’s a really cool and super creepy place to stay. Also have a wonderful breakfast outside in the courtyard.
Another haunted location in Bardstown that you don’t hear a lot about is Wickland. It is an old governor’s mansion and it is VERY haunted. They are online. They do a two hour tour on Friday nights and Fri and Sat nights in Oct. The guides are mediums and they use dowsing rods, which I didn’t believe in AT ALL until I volunteered to use them. Trust me- they work!!! It’s well worth the $15 admission and only about a mile from the Jailer’s Inn and Old Talbott Tavern.
My dad and I went there for a big Father’s Day weekend five years ago. The jail was one of our last stops before returning home to Lexington. I never saw anything when I was there, but sure felt a very native vibe…such so that I felt an old tightening sensation in my chest. Once I stepped outside, I felt completely better. I took pictures of some of the windows from the outside. When I looked at them later, there were several “faces” in them. Those pics are on my computer, and I am writing this on my phone…or else I would post them here as well. I definitely felt uncomfortable inside, and don’t anticipate any future tours.
*negative, not native (autocorrect mistake)
On 12 Oct 2016, I stayed in the Talbot Tavern, General’s Quarters (room 2) and the following items occurred:
1) Temp changes At the fireplace in the room 2 around 2315.
2) Movement out of the corner of the eye in room 2
3) Lights turning on in room 2
4) Batteries drained in the camera (batteries were tested with a volt meter prior and they were at full charge)
5) EVPs in the Cemetery and in the Concord room
6) Furniture in room 2 was moved when I went into the bathroom (to baseline EMF meter) I was there only for about 20 seconds.
7) 18 out of 107 pictures had orbs (various locations)
8) 6 out of 10 videos had evidence of the EMF meter going off between the beds in room 2 (baseline was no EMF readings)
9) bed shook (slightly but noticeable) for about 30 minutes
10) Room temperature flux multiple times in multiple locations – mainly in room 2
11) Bed curtains moved when the A/C was off (I turned it off prior and verified when curtains moved that no wind was in the area)
12) 4f 9 of EVP readings were of unexplainable nature (the others were explainable).
We stayed here a few years back… we were doing the Kentucky Bourbon Tour and thought this would be a fun place to stay. We were booked in the Colonial Room. At the time, the last thing on my mind was having any type of paranormal experience. I do love all of the fun shows on cable – Ghost Hunters, etc.. I think they are quite entertaining, but just haven’t had any experiences to match this in my life which left me skeptical. That is… until that night. I can’t explain what I experienced? Yes – we had plenty of wine with dinner.. BUT.. when I “awoke”, I felt like I was outside of myself? I remember thinking I couldn’t move.. the room seemed to be lit by lamplight and beside the bed was an old short woman.. smiling at me very kindly but way too close for comfort. It seemed to me like there were others standing behind her? naturally she seemed to be dressed in period clothing. I was FREAKED! I don’t remember getting back to sleep, but I must have. I relayed this to my partner who didn’t see or feel ANYTHING. Yikes! I never mentioned it to the Innkeeper. Makes me kind of curious to go back?
I stayed in the jail cell last night with my two young boys and we didn’t know it was a haunted place going in, it just sounded like a fun idea to stay at an old jail. I woke several times through the night, thinking the boys were holding my hands, brushing my arms, waking me and whispering but they slept soundly. There were dripping, gurgling sounds throughout the night. I figured it was just my imagination until our host told us about the ghosts the next morning. The staff is very nice, the jail cell is kept clean and the breakfast was great. But the place is genuinely creepy and has a dark energy. Before bed we said a prayer of peace for the people that suffered and died there and it must be that those souls treated us gently.