The Shinkle House

This elegant Victorian mansion was home to Amos Shinkle, who built the iconic Roebling Suspension Bridge connecting Covington to Cincinnati. The house later served as a bed and breakfast in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Shinkle House on Garrard Street in Covington stands as a monument to one of Northern Kentucky's most remarkable figures. Amos Shinkle, born into poverty in 1818, arrived in Covington in the 1840s with little more than a steamboat and relentless ambition. He built a coal and steamboat empire, developed dozens of homes across the city, and in 1856 became president of the Covington and Cincinnati Bridge Company, providing the leadership and financing that brought the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge to completion in 1867 — at the time, the longest suspension bridge in the world. By 1854, Shinkle was wealthy enough to purchase the stately Garrard Street residence, where he and his wife Sarah Jane Hughes Shinkle raised their family. Shinkle was also a staunch Unionist during the Civil War, serving as colonel of the Kentucky Home Guards, and he secretly cooperated with the Underground Railroad, hiding fugitive enslaved people in the property's carriage house.

By 1869, Amos had grown so wealthy that he constructed a lavish 33-room mansion on Second Street to better display his success. But Sarah adored the more modest Garrard Street home and deeply resented the move, longing for the house she considered her true home. Amos died in 1892 and Sarah in 1908. According to local legend, Sarah's spirit did what she could not do in life — she returned to Garrard Street for good.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Garrard Street house was operated as a bed and breakfast by former Covington Mayor Bernie Moorman and his business partner Don Nash. It was during this period that the hauntings became impossible to ignore. The most famous incident occurred in Sarah's former bedroom. Nash had just finished meticulously making the bed and stepped out of the room for a brief moment. When he returned, a distinct impression was pressed into the freshly made bedding — the unmistakable shape of someone sitting on the bed. His assistant confirmed she had remained in the adjoining bathroom the entire time and had not entered the room. The invisible sitter had left its mark in plain sight.

The carriage house — the same building where Amos once concealed freedom seekers fleeing slavery — proved even more disturbing. During a paranormal convention held in Cincinnati, several attendees stayed overnight in the carriage house. The next morning, they emerged into the main house visibly shaken, their faces drained of color. They reported overwhelming feelings of sadness, fear, and despair throughout the night, and described seeing a horde of spectral faces on the second floor of the structure. Given the building's history as an Underground Railroad station, many believe these apparitions are connected to the desperate souls who once passed through in secret.

The Amos Shinkle Townhouse was sold in 2012 and converted back into a private family residence. While it is no longer open as a bed and breakfast, the Ghosts of Covington Haunted History Tour includes the Shinkle House as one of its featured stops, sharing the stories of Sarah's restless spirit and the tormented souls of the carriage house with visitors walking Covington's historic streets.