Tales Of Ghosts Continue To Haunt Historic Bristol Restaurant

Bristol Borough is home to a number of historically relevant buildings and organizations, including the oldest operating Inn in the country, the King George II Inn. In the 336 years the King George II Inn has been operation, most guests have left but some are believed to have never departed the building.

Robert Strasser and Bruce Lowe purchased the restaurant in 2014. In their three years owning the property, they have become very familiar with the tales and stories of those who continue to inhabit the historic building.

According to Strasser, before buying the restaurant, he did some of his own research on the building and came across the legends of the haunted building. Once the purchase was complete, the reality really started to set in.

“I read a little about the place being haunted, but I really didn’t realize the extent until we moved in,” Strasser said.

The popular myth surrounding the iconic building at the corner of Radcliffe and Mill streets is that a full bodied apparition of a man dressed in a top hat and other styles of the 1800s. He has become known as the “dancing ghost” and while his sight has been reported through the years, the current ownership of the restaurant have not seen him.

Others have said recall hearing babies cry, silverware moving and table settings being messed up over night. The biggest and most sudden activity Strasser saw happened late one night when he and a bartender were closing the restaurant. Used liquor bottles were on the bar being counted when two of the bottles flew off of the bar and shattered against the wall.

The more than 300 years of history make it unlikely that the building would not be the focus of ghost stories. The number of people who lived and likely died at the property adds to that assertion of a haunted building. In addition to the people who lived at the property, there is also a spooky cellar. The restaurant uses it to store liquor today, but in the past it was used as a jail to hold unruly customers overnight.

In the three years that Strasser and Lowe have owned the restaurant, more than 25 people have contacted Strasser asking to film the restaurant and perform paranormal investigations. Because an investigation would require shutting down the restaurant for a weekend, the owners have declined requests.

In 2015, the website Only In Your State cited the King George II Inn as a must see stop for ghost lovers in Pennsylvania.

“What I can say is that there is definitely a presence at the Inn,” Strasser said.