About This Location
A National Historic Landmark inn on the banks of the Kanawha River near Kanawha Falls. The building may be over 200 years old and began serving guests in 1839 as a stagecoach stop. During the Civil War, it served as a Union quartermaster's depot and possibly a makeshift hospital.
The Ghost Story
The Glen Ferris Inn has stood beside the thundering Kanawha Falls in Fayette County for more than two centuries, making it one of the oldest continuously operating inns in West Virginia. Documentation dating to 1815 indicates that a home on the property served travelers along the James River and Kanawha Turnpike, the vital east-west route that connected Virginia's Tidewater region to the Ohio River valley. In 1839, local businessman Aaron Stockton formally opened a 'common room' to host the stagecoach traffic flowing through this narrow passage between the mountains, and the inn has been welcoming guests ever since.
Aaron Stockton was a veteran of the War of 1812, and though he never held the rank officially, the community knew him by the nickname 'Colonel' -- a title of respect for a man who had seen combat and built a successful enterprise in the rugged Kanawha Valley. Stockton was also a known Confederate sympathizer during the Civil War, a dangerous position in a region where loyalties were violently divided. The inn served as a refuge for soldiers on both sides of the conflict, as both Union and Confederate troops had units stationed in the area. From 1863 to 1865, the building likely served as a makeshift hospital, its rooms filled with wounded and dying men from battles fought in the surrounding hills.
It is from this bloody period that the inn's most famous ghost emerges. 'The Colonel' is a bearded figure in Civil War-era military attire who has been seen by guests, staff, and visitors for generations. His apparition appears most frequently in one of the second-story windows, a solid-looking figure gazing out over the falls that rush past the inn -- visible to people approaching from the road who look up to see a face watching them from a room that, upon investigation, turns out to be empty.
The identity of the Colonel is debated. Some believe he is a Confederate officer who died at the inn during its hospital days, his spirit unable to leave the place where he drew his last breath. Others point to Aaron Stockton himself, the innkeeper who bore the nickname 'Colonel' throughout his life and whose attachment to the property he built might reasonably extend beyond death. The ghost sports a beard similar to Stockton's, and his proprietary air -- watching over the inn from the upper windows, patrolling the hallways -- suggests an owner rather than a guest.
Beyond the Colonel, the inn harbors a range of unexplained phenomena. Guests in the rooms above the restaurant report hearing footsteps crossing the floor of their rooms at night, steady and purposeful, as though someone is pacing. Doors that have been firmly closed swing open or slam shut without any draft or vibration to account for the movement. Cold spots appear suddenly in hallways that are otherwise comfortably heated. The sounds of conversations -- muffled but unmistakable human voices -- have been heard coming from rooms that are confirmed empty.
The inn sits directly beside the Kanawha Falls, and the constant roar of water creates a sonic backdrop that some paranormal researchers believe may contribute to the location's activity. The theory of 'white noise' stimulating or masking spirit communication is popular among investigators, and the falls provide an unending supply. The surrounding area, rich with Civil War history and the ghosts of the coal industry that followed, adds layers of potential energy.
Today the Glen Ferris Inn continues to operate as a hotel and restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner to travelers on Route 60. The views of the Kanawha Falls from the dining room are spectacular, and the sunset over the river draws visitors who know nothing of the inn's paranormal reputation. But those who stay overnight -- particularly in the second-floor rooms where the Colonel keeps his watch -- often leave with stories that have nothing to do with the scenery.