“It was late.
The onyx-colored sky grew darker and darker as the midnight hour was drawing near…
The weary travelers just longed for a place to lay their heads.
It was calling them…
It was luring them from miles away into the depths of its 128-year-old walls.
It was waiting…
The Blennerhassett Hotel sat patiently in the dead of night for its long-awaited guests to arrive…”

Photo courtesy of The Blennerhassett Hotel, Andi Roberts photographer

Jokingly, I posted the above synopsis on social media along with a photograph of the stunning Blennerhassett Hotel during our stay there in August.

I thought it would be a good introduction to this week’s blog.

All joking aside, though, that’s literally how it happened.

We didn’t find the Blennerhassett, the Blennerhassett found us…

 

We were heading back up to the Ohio area, (for reasons I will discuss in a future heart blog) and had gotten a late start on our trip.

We were still hoping to be able to drive straight through, but it was approaching the ten o’clock hour and we, my son, husband and I, unanimously decided we were all pooped and ready to stop for the night.

I began my google search of approaching cities and hotels in the area.

I did Hotels.com.

I did Travelocity.com.

I did Tripadvisor.com.

Seeking out a historic or “haunted” hotel wasn’t really in my plans at ten o’clock at night. We just wanted a quick bite to eat and a bed.

One particular hotel though, on all sites I might add, would show up at the top of each search, and that was the hotel, Blennerhassett. I’d skip and go to the next one, and there it’d be again, top of the list.

I began comparing rates (as I always do when traveling) and the numbers matched up.

I suddenly remembered that the “Historic Hotels of America” directory, given to me by the Tudor Arms manager during our stay there, was still in the back seat.

I reached around and pulled it out.

I quickly turned to “West Virginia” and there it was, The Blennerhassett Hotel, complete with its little ghost icon under the description.

Like I’m gonna stay at a La Quinta or a Holiday Inn at this point?!

I presented it to the fam, and they were game too!

And guess what?? We all suddenly perked up and were wide awake and ready to explore once we arrived!

 

The History

The Blennerhassett Hotel in 1900

Photo courtesy of Jim Dawson, Los Angeles, CA www.electricearl.com/parkersburg/blenner.html

In the late 1800’s Parkersburg West Virginia was prospering with its new-found wealth during the oil and natural gas boom. The city began welcoming many wealthy businessmen and visitors from all over the country.  It was around this time that Parkersburg’s previous mayor and prominent businessman, William Nelson Chancellor, designed and built the spectacular Blennerhassett Hotel. He spared no cost, making it the grandest hotel in the state!

When the stunning Queen Anne style hotel opened its doors in 1889 it contained fifty guest rooms and the “modern-day” convenience of indoor restrooms, all while illuminating the gaslight era.

 

George C. Campbell was the first proprietor and general manager to lease the hotel. Originally, the hotel was to be called “The Argyle,” but Campbell made the decision to, instead, name the hotel after Harman Blennerhassett, an Irish native who founded and settled on the nearby Blennerhassett Island, a place that carries quite a history and story in itself.

A letter written in 1892 on the hotel’s stationery

Photo courtesy of Jim Dawson, Los Angeles, CA www.electricearl.com/parkersburg/blenner.html

The Blennerhassett Hotel was one of the first establishments in Parkersburg to have electricity. It even featured an electric guest elevator, as well as a service elevator. It was a state of the art building for its time.

The fifty guest rooms were built around a central staircase, and spanned four floors with the kitchen located on the fifth floor.

“The Common Area,” where guests could socialize, was located on the 2^nd floor and featured two double parlors as well as an upright piano for entertaining along with a dining room.

Also on the 2^nd floor was the mysterious “red room” known by some to create a sense of dread, but after talking with some of the Blennerhassett’s staff, it merely acquired its name for simply having been painted the color red. What was once the “red room” is now the Statford Boardroom.

Currently, the second floor offers various boardrooms and executive suites as well as regular guest rooms.

The First National Bank of Parkersburg, to which William Chancellor was once a president, was located on the hotel’s lower level where the now Starbuck’s coffee bar sits.

The hotel library that invites today’s guests into its quiet and warming quarters to either relax, read, or enjoy a game of chess, was once the original entranceway to the hotel.

 

Although the Blennerhassett has been quite consistent in running as a hotel for all its one hundred and twenty-eight years, it has, of course, undergone some renovations as well as some challenging times.

The first renovation occurred between 1944-1945 when William Nelson Chancellor’s grandson, Nelson C. Burwell took over the establishment, making the needed changes and upgrades for that time period.

The hotel in the 1940’s

Photo courtesy of Jim Dawson, Los Angeles, CA www.electricearl.com/parkersburg/blenner.html

 

Between the mid to late 1970’s the hotel started to offer short term leases on some of its rooms. Approximately thirty elderly residents resided in the hotel when the second-floor fire broke out in May of 1979. The fire was fortunately abated before reaching the fifth floor and possibly destroying the entire building.

Prompted by a group of Parkersburg locals in the early 1980’s, Pennsylvania-based investors took on plans to renovate and restore the Blennerhassett to its previous glory. The project started in 1985 and was completed in about a year.

Over seven million dollars later, the Blennerhassett was once again restored back to its elegance and beauty, and with much detail. Interior designers traveled to New York and as far as England to furnish the Blennerhassett with authentic antiques from its late 1800’s period.

It was also during this mid ‘80’s renovation, that the Blennerhassett’s next door neighbor, The Kaltenecker Building, would become part of the makeover. The building was constructed around the same time as the hotel by another of Parkersburg’s businessmen, John Kaltenecker. It was agreed upon during the construction that the Kaltenecker’s exterior would match the Blennerhassett’s.

Hmmmm, makes you wonder if Mr. Chancellor might have foreseen the two buildings uniting somewhere down the line…

The Kaltenecker building is now the hotel’s dining room.

The hotel in the 1980’s

Photo courtesy of Jim Dawson, Los Angeles, CA www.electricearl.com/parkersburg/blenner.html

The most recent reconstruction took place between 2002 and 2006 and exceeded ten million dollars, bringing the hotel up to date with all its finest amenities. The Blennerhassett now also includes a beautiful patio courtyard area with a climate controlled patio tent.  Its eighty-nine guest rooms beautifully exhibit European-style décor, along with the extra touches of plush sheets and towels, and spa-style robes for their guest’s comfort.

The Blennerhassett’s grand Charleston Ballroom stays busy, as it is a popular spot for weddings and special events.

photo courtesy of the Blennerhassett Hotel

Over the years, the Blennerhassett has welcomed people of high stature including the 1960 stay of John F. Kennedy during his reception in Parkersburg, and that of Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea.

The Haunts

When I decided to feature the Blennerhassett on this week’s blog, I had to do some digging. Keep in mind, my stay in August was short, less than twenty-four hours actually, and I knew nothing of its history or its haunts beforehand, other than its little ghost icon.

Photo courtesy of Jim Dawson, Los Angeles, CA www.electricearl.com/parkersburg/blenner.html

Upon researching, I found that the Blennerhassett Hotel is listed among Country Living’s “50 Most Haunted Hotels in America” and was ranked as the sixth most haunted hotel in North America by MSNBC, only beaten out for number five by Colorado’s Stanley hotel, which is otherwise known for Stephen King’s inspiration for his novel “The Shining.”

I was intrigued to say the least.

The staff at the Blennerhassett was more than accommodating to help provide me with its history for this article.  They are very proud of their hotel, as they well should be. Its magnificent!

After reading and finding out about its extensive “haunted” reputation, though, I had to go to an expert.

I called upon Parkersburg’s own Susan Sheppard, to help me out with some information on the hotel and its resident haunts.

Ms. Sheppard is a lifelong mystic and has worked as a psychic medium since the age of fourteen. She is also the founder and storyteller of the “Haunted Parkersburg Ghost Tours.”

Having written the book, “Cry of the Banshee: History and Hauntings of West Virginia and the Ohio Valley,” Ms. Sheppard tells of West Virginia’s haunted history, how to recognize ghosts, thirteen most likely places you’ll find phantoms, and even how to tell if your own house is really haunted.

I’d say if I was looking for an expert on the Blennerhassett haunts, she’d definately be it!

Upon speaking with Ms. Sheppard she told me she began having experiences with spirits as early as age four.

Seems as though she knows this realm well.

So I asked her to tell me about the “non-living” residents of the hotel Blennerhassett.

Thankfully, she agreed to do so.

The Blennerhassett’s most popular spirit is that of Mr. William Nelson Chancellor himself.

photo courtesy of the Blennerhassett Hotel, photographer Michele Coleman

A portrait of Mr. Chancellor hangs above the mantel in the hotel’s library.

Many people on Ms. Sheppard’s tour, as well as hotel guests, have said it’s as though the eyes of his portrait are following them.

The most common presence of Mr. Chancellor, she says, is the smell, and sometimes the sight, of cigar smoke. This took me by surprise for sure! This has not only happened in the library, but throughout the hotel.

Mr. Chancellor, in his days of the living, was rarely seen without a fine cigar in his hand.

Some people, such as Ms. Sheppard, can be more sensitive to the presence of spirits than others.  She explains, “You are not likely to see a ghost on the tours since seeing one is extremely rare, but your camera may very well capture one!”

“They usually manifest themselves in other ways, such as through smells, footsteps, the moving of objects, sounds, and may even appear in dreams.”

There have been sightings of  “the man in the gray suit” which is believed to be Mr. Chancellor. When he is spotted, it happens rather quickly and he disappears in the blink of an eye.

The second floor is probably one of the most “active” areas in the hotel. (This again, caught me by surprise.)

As I had mentioned in the history, the second floor served as the Common Area from the time the hotel opened and continued for many years.

The 2^nd floor activity reports include hearing children laughing, singing, running up and down the halls, and sometimes seeing footsteps appearing as though they are walking across beds.

One report was a sighting of a little girl in an old-fashioned party dress. She most recently has been seen in the kitchen area too.

Another regular spirit is that of a young boy that is believed to have strayed away from all the other children on the 2^nd floor. He is usually seen in and around the kitchen. Those that have witnessed him said he appears to be dressed as a 1920-30’s newspaper boy and one guest described the sighting as seeing him sitting on a stack of newspapers. It was rumored that during the 1920’s there was a nearby newsstand.

A woman in white has been seen in the hotel’s elevator on several occasions, often looking more like a “real person” other than her clearly dated dress. One guest who saw her said she got off on the second floor. Other times, it’s just the overpowering smell of women’s perfume as the elevator door opens.

And speaking of the elevator, it is known to randomly stop and open on different floors. When asked about this, the staff reminded me that Blennerhassett elevator is very old, making it more prone to being slow and finicky.

Other sightings have been a couple in old fashion dress usually on the 2^nd floor, and also a bell boy.

And then there are the “Mirror Spirits.”  They can be seen in the hotel’s hall mirrors. Some of these include a man in a white tuxedo, and also a sea captain.

Oh, and we can’t forget about the “4 O’clock Knocker.” And that would be 4 a.m…

Three knocks can be heard on the door leading to the now coffee shop that was once the First National Bank of Parkersburg. But don’t set a clock to it. The three knocks have also happened sporadically at other odd hours of the night and early morning.

Although not part of the original hotel, the Charleston Ballroom is said to have an unending party going on. Big band music has been heard from outside the ballroom.

Late one night while working, a staff member claimed to have heard music and a crowd from inside the closed and locked doors of the ballroom. When he unlocked and open the doors, the ballroom was dark, empty, and silent.

Photo Courtesy of The Blennerhassett Hotel

 

This year, a new spirit was seen. He’s a man with a gray beard wearing a black hat.

Two gents sit outside the hotel during the early twentieth century

Photo courtesy of Jim Dawson, Los Angeles, CA www.electricearl.com/parkersburg/blenner.html

 

There have also been several “cold spots” felt throughout the hotel. Another sign of ghostly presence.

Unexplained occurrences tend to happen on Ms. Sheppard’s tours.

One being, that a certain book would repeatedly fall off the hotel library’s shelf. It was an antique book of after dinner speeches, and more often than not, would randomly open to a speech pertaining to how men could be witches too.

The book has since disappeared.

Ms. Sheppard also explained that during one of her tours in the hotel’s library, she witnessed the fabric buttons on a furniture ottoman raise, bringing up the attached upholstery with them.

One of the stops along the way of Ms. Sheppard’s Haunted Parkersburg tour is near Mr. Chancellor’s astounding second empire architecture home located at 904 Juliana Street, which is only about a half a mile from the hotel.

Below are two photos Ms. Sheppard shared with me of an apparition caught on film near the carriage house of the Chancellor home.

Zoomed in image of apparition face

Photos courtesy of Susan Sheppard

There have been several apparitions caught in photographs during the Parkersburg tours. Another is that of the “Picket Fence Man” that was taken by Suzanne Damon along the tour route about six years ago.

Zoomed in image of apparition

Photos courtesy of Susan Sheppard

She believes it to be an apparition of a young civil war soldier dressed in a confederate uniform. This photo was taken not far from Riverview Cemetery, where a number of Civil War soldiers were laid to rest.

Ms. Sheppard herself has encountered Mr. Chancellor at the hotel.

It was during her stay overnight on the third floor while she was getting some home renovating done. While watching TV, she felt a slight bump on the end of her bed and glanced up to see a man in a gray suit that walked away and vanished into the wall as quickly as he appeared.

Ms. Sheppard explains that most of these Blennerhassett ghosts have been dead over one hundred years or more. She reiterates she believes that all the Blennerhassett’s spirits are friendly and mean no harm.

Had I known all this before check-in on that late August night, would I have still opted to stay?

I would like to think so, but… sometimes I believe what you don’t know, won’t hurt ya.

Am I a skeptic to all this? Well, maybe not so much anymore.

Why, you ask?

Although our short stay at the beautiful Blennerhassett was wonderful, I did, for some reason, have a very restless night.

I also developed one of my slight headaches from what I described that night to my husband as the re-occurring sweet smell of cigar smoke, that neither my son nor husband ever noticed.

And our room number?

It was 216.