Stone’s Public House
photo taken from hauntsofamerica.com
Stone’s Public House was built in 1832 by Captain John Stone in Ashland, Massachusetts. This house has been used as an inn and a stop on the Underground Railroad. Inside the house feels like going in time. It’s very authentic with its wood floors and furniture, and everyone that works there has a ghost story to tell. It also contains a hidden room that was used for the railroad system.
The Underground Railroad was a system used by abolitionists to help free black slaves from their masters. The staff members of the house have reported smelling pipe smoke all over the place, even when they are just opening up. They have also seen apparitions and feel cold spots in certain areas. People have been tapped on the back and pushed to the side by an invisible ghost. There is even an image of an old man dressed in old-fashioned clothes with a black mustache in one of the beams of the building.
One famous ghost story in the house is told by bartender Jim Terlemezian. He had just completed a shift from 10 A.M. to 2 A.M. and was exhausted by the days end. The only people that were now left in the house were him and the former owner Mati Northover. He went to go change his shirt and heard the in-distinctive voice of a young child.
It certainly wasn’t Marti, especially since she was upstairs in her office when this took place. The house is believed to be haunted by the spirits of John Stone, a man he accidentally killed, a little girl who was killed in the restaurant, and possibly some slaves who never made it to freedom.
(Source: Belanger, Jeff. Encyclopedia of Haunted Places. 2005.)
