Wayside Inn is reported to be the oldest inn in the U.S. that is still in operation. Room 14 is rumored to be haunted and is the source of the most unusual happenings in the inn. However, witnesses have seen and heard strange things all over the inn.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 7783 Main St
Middletown, VA 22645
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 39.03048978601497, -78.27707087235262
- County:
- Frederick County, Virginia
- Nearest Towns:
- Middletown, VA (0.3 mi.)
Stephens City, VA (4.8 mi.)
Strasburg, VA (5.2 mi.)
Shenandoah Shores, VA (8.7 mi.)
Front Royal, VA (8.9 mi.)
Toms Brook, VA (10.5 mi.)
Shenandoah Farms, VA (11.3 mi.)
Shawnee Land, VA (11.7 mi.)
Apple Mountain Lake, VA (12.0 mi.)
Maurertown, VA (12.2 mi.)
Contact Information
- Web:
- http://www.alongthewayside.com/
Please note: It is your responsibility to acquire appropriate permissions before investigating any location listed on this site. Private property should be respected at all times, as should all posted signs concerning trespassing, hours of operation and other local regulations. Many "ghost hunters" have been arrested because they failed to contact property owners and/or local authorities ahead of time.
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Comments (9)
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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.
We stayed in Suite 14 several years ago~ My mother and young son slept by the fireplace and heard “battlefield noises.” My mother woke me up to go hear them, I didn’t hear anything and went back to bed despite them clearly having experienced something. I crawled back into bed and immediately felt a “presence,” I opened my eyes and saw the apparition of an older man/soldier (he had a beard, thin), he said (almost angrily), “you are on my side of the bed.” I obliged by getting up, and going around to the other side of the bed. There is ZERO doubt in our minds this place is haunted. My husband and friends are going back this October 2014 🙂 We are traveling clear across the U.S. specifically to stay at The Wayside.
My mother in law took us to the Wayside Inn when we were out antiquing one day. She’d often seen it and we had lunch downstairs. I tend to be sensitive to things like hauntings, and felt an oppressive “weight” as soon as we entered the building. All during lunch downstairs, I felt quite literally as though someone was glaring at me from one of the darkened corners. When we finished lunch, I wanted to leave the building but my mother in law insisted on asking to see a guest room, in case she and my father in law wanted to return for a weekend stay. We were taken by an obliging staff member to one of the rooms – I don’t know which – but the second we entered the room, I felt a presence that I can only describe as terrifying. I felt like the room was closing in around me. I wanted to scream and run out. I took my two small children and made my way out of the Inn and to the car as quickly as my feet could carry me. I didn’t tell my mother in law what I’d experienced, but discovered later my husband had booked us a stay there as a surprise, on a recommendation from her. I told him not only would I not stay there, but I never, ever, wanted to return to the building. Even looking at the picture of the Inn above makes me feel very uneasy. Good luck, if you go.
I stayed at the wayside inn in Middletown, va. Saw a girl standing at the foot of my bed in the middle of the night. She was wearing a blue dress, white ruffle collar. I sat up and stared at her for probably 10 seconds. Even tried to speak to her. In morning, I asked our server at breakfast about it. He told me to go look in original living room at old pics on the wall. There she was. Don’t remember room. You entered room with bed to right and chairs/windows on left. Bathroom was behind wall behind bedboard.
My husband was gone for the weekend so my friend and I decided to have a girls
night out and do something different, so we decided to go on a ghost
investigation! After tons of internet searching, we came across the Wayside Inn.
After reading some reviews on “Hauntedplaces.org” we decided to pick this place
which was only an hour drive. The Wayside Inn is Amazing and loaded with History! The
owner/Inn keeper George was so helpful and sweet, he showed us around and
answered all of our history and ghost questions.
We had read that room 14 was the most haunted and wanted to stay in that room
but we decided to stay in room 16 instead because it had two double beds (unlike
room 14) and was located just across the hall. George gave us permission to
investigate room 14 since it was vacant!
We were communicating with a gentleman spirit through dowsing rods, and when he
first arrived to communicate, WE FELT HIS PRESENCE! My friend and I both had a
heavy feeling come over us and we got goosebumps from head to toe at the very
same time. There was definitely no doubt that there was someone else there with
us. When we started communicating with him, I was trying to figure out if he
once lived at the Wayside Inn or if he was just passing through, he answered no
for both questions on my dowsing rods and a voice came through my spirit box
(Radio frequencies) and it clearly said, “I’m sick”. I have this on my EVP
recorder! The bed canopy fringes were waving back and forth as I was talking to
him. As I lost communication with him, the fringes stopped moving. (There was no
A/C on in this room, ALL doors and windows closed…No drafts whatsoever. Later,
while checking my camera, there was an orb that shot up and out beside me as I
was saying my goodbyes. The communication didn’t last long and I could tell the
spirit was too weak to communicate. I suppose it must have had something to do
with him being sick. I did find out the next day that the Wayside Inn was also
once a hospital.
I slept peaceful that night without restlessness but the next morning I felt so
drained as if I had no sleep at all. I was dragging the whole next day and was
so exhausted that I went to bed at 6 o’clock pm and didn’t wake up until 7:30am!
A ghost will use a persons energy to communicate….He definitely used all of
mine! Anyway, that’s my ghost story from the Wayside Inn and I can’t wait to see
what happens the next time we go!
On another note, this place is VERY lovely and the food was really good too!
Generous pours of wine, and the cracker & cheese tray was a great start to a
wonderful meal. The Stuffed Founder was amazing! Breakfast the next morning was
amazing too! We had a delightful time and can’t wait to go back!
PS. Don’t be afraid, the ghosts are nice!!! 😉
My boyfriend and I stayed at the Wayside Inn last summer. I got up at dawn to go to the bathroom. I got back in bed and rolled over on my side–facing my boyfriend who was facing the other way. Within a minute, I experienced what felt like two fingers running done my back. I froze. I knew I had to turn and see who was there, but I couldn’t move. When I got the courage to turn my head, no one was there. But what I felt was very real, and there was no reasonable explanation for it.
Want to learn more about the spirits of the Wayside Inn?
S.A.P.S. Paranormal will be holding a event entitled “Supper with the Spooks and Spirits of the Wayside Inn” on October 27th 2018.
Reservations are required and seating is limited.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2085752181739163/?ti=cl
Call the Wayside Inn to make your reservations while tickets last.
My hubby booked us a room for our anniversary . The inn keeper / owner Becky when she found out it was our anniversary up graded us to a suite . She put us in room 14! The suite was amazing and my hubby and I found ourselves relaxing immediately. We changed for dinner and afterwards had a nightcap with Becky who is a very gracious hostess, and told us all about the inn including Rm 14. We retired to our room and settled down for the night. Sometime shortly after I was startled by a grainy whispery voice, ( I wasn’t asleep had just settled down). The voice said either move or Boo, wasn’t quite sure. I set up in bed and listen and looked but didn’t see or hear anything. It unnerved me so I woke my hubby. The rest of the night went by uneventful. The next morning while just setting in bed relaxing I witness a glowing orb the size of a quarter just appear and float up and straight across behind my hubbys head then just poof gone. The whole stay was wonderful and fun , we will definitely come here and stay again.
I stayed in the Wayside Inn overnight in the mid- to late 1970s. I had heard about the ghost of the lady who sometimes appears on the staircase landing, so after dinner, I sat in the library to watch. Nothing ever happened, so I went on to my room to get some sleep. Sometime during the night, I had a dream that there was a lady in our room and she was walking toward the bed on my side. I dreamed my hand was resting on the bedside table, and she came and gently put hers on top of it. It seemed so real, and it startled me into waking. Well, I didn’t see her, but there was my hand, resting on the bedside table, just as I had dreamed it. For about eight seconds, I felt like she was standing not far away, watching. And then the feeling was gone.
When I stayed here I heard screaming in the middle of the night. The next morning when I woke up I went to use the bathroom and there was blood everywhere in the bathtub. I found out my boyfriend had wanted to take me there a month later so I gave it another chance. When we went there I had heard the same thing. I woke up and there was a bloody woman standing at the edge of the bed. I will never stay there again.