Foster's Tavern

Spartanburg's oldest brick house, built between 1801 and 1808 along the Charleston stagecoach route, is haunted by the ghost of an unknown traveler who hanged himself in a room while his horse vanished from a locked stable. Visitors hear phantom hooves on the roof, piano music, and footsteps on the stairs.

A piano teacher was giving a lesson at Foster's Tavern when she heard someone walk down the stairs, open the front door, and leave. She went to check. Nobody was there. The door hadn't moved.

Foster's Tavern at 191 Cedar Springs Road is the oldest brick house in Spartanburg, built by Anthony Foster starting in 1801 and finished seven years later in 1808. Foster saw the opportunity in his location: the house sat along the stagecoach route to Charleston, so he converted it into a tavern for travelers. The construction is local brick with tied chimneys at each end, hand-carved woodwork with bowed mantels, blown-glass windowpanes, and soapstone hearths. A portico with a fanlight was added in 1845. The building landed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1970.

Its guest list reads like an early American history textbook. Vice President John C. Calhoun stayed often enough that a second-floor southeast room became known as the Calhoun Room, and other guests would vacate it whenever the statesman visited. Bishop Francis Asbury, who helped establish Methodism across the American South, also stayed here.

The ghost story that sticks is the traveler who hanged himself in one of the rooms. His horse vanished from a locked stable the same night. No one ever identified the man or found the horse.

The tavern's other hauntings are mostly sound-based. Visitors hear horse hooves drumming on the roof, footsteps climbing the stairs, and voices in empty rooms. A group of friends who broke in around 11 PM heard heavy footsteps pounding across the floor above them, then a door slammed. Downstairs, a piano bench tipped over on its own and the piano slid across the room. They ran.

Three students waiting for a ride across the street at E.P. Todd school told a stranger story. They said a horse-drawn stagecoach rolled out through the tavern's front door. A man inside, who they said looked like Abraham Lincoln, tipped his hat before guiding the horses onto the road.

Someone in the neighborhood reported hearing "help us" called out around 2:30 in the morning, with flickering lights and a figure visible inside the building. Foster's Tavern is now a private residence, though tours are occasionally permitted.