Four Haunted Restaurants in Gettysburg!
Where YOU can eat with a ghost!
I often write about Gettysburg for both paranormal and traveling topics, Traveler. I do that because Gettysburg is a town based almost entirely on travel and paranormal research. According to Destination Gettysburg, U.S. News and World Report ranked Gettysburg as its third-best vacation destination. On top of that, Travel and Leisure ranked it as America’s sixth most haunted town. I once saw a t-shirt at a souvenir shop that read, “Gettysburg, a ghost town with a history problem.”
That about sums it up.
Ghost tours, paranormal investigation experiences, and nights at haunted bed and breakfasts can be found all over the town, Traveler. But what if you tend to travel light in both the suitcase and wallet department like me?
Well, instead of a tour or ghost hunt, what if we could eat and look for ghosts?
We can eat at these four haunted restaurants right now, with the possibility of getting a spirit with our burger.
Dobbin House
The Dobbin House actually predates both the battle of Gettysburg and the founding of the town, Traveler! The reverend Alexander Dobbin settled in this area in 1776, ten years before the boundaries of Gettysburg were established. Reverend Dobbin taught children how to speak Latin and Greek. He had a lot of practice teaching children as well. In two marriages, the reverend had about 19 kids under his roof!
According to a segment in National Geographic, the house may have been a stop on the famous Underground Railroad that led up through the Appalachian Mountains. After the battle, the Dobbin House became a tavern and restaurant eventually.
They serve a great burger and quite a few stories, Traveler.
The sounds of children playing at weird hours, visible apparitions of ex-slaves, soldiers, and the reverend himself, and even blood stains that can’t ever be cleaned up plague the restaurant all year!
Moreover, the Dobbin House can back up its claims of being haunted! The photo below was taken in October 2022 by a restaurant patron.
This was posted to the Dobbin House Facebook page, and it’s speculated that the shadowy figure above is one of the former wives of the good reverend. It’s claimed that she wears a black dress and bonnet in that photo.
But hey, go and see for yourself! The Dobbin house is open; the area in the photo is the basement tavern.
Farnsworth House
The Farnsworth House has a dark history to it, Traveler. I mean, just about every square inch of Gettysburg has a dark past, but one of the more infamous acts of the battle might have happened from the attic of the historic home. The bullet that killed Jennie Wade, the only civilian casualty of the battle, may have been fired from the attic window that everyone now stops to see.
Many paranormal investigation groups have come through this home and trudged up to the attic, Traveler. The Ghoul Boys, formerly of Buzzfeed Unsolved, made a trek through town for their final season. Ryan also mentions our next stop in that episode, which is ironic. But we’re not finished at the Farnsworth yet.
Several different ghosts, including what might have been Jennie Wade’s killer, may still roam the house. A few homes in this town were commandeered by Confederate sharpshooters during the first day of the battle when the South overran the Union and set the North back to the rally point at Cemetery Hill down the street. People have also complained of a young woman and at least one precocious child roaming around the house while folks try to sleep.
That’s another thing, Traveler. Not only can we eat here and go on a ghost hunt here, but it’s a functioning Bed and Breakfast where you can sleep, too! Lodging comes with amenities such as free tickets to ghost tours and ghost hunts.
As a matter of fact, someone in the ghost hunt group the night I went told me they were experiencing weird phenomena in their room!
As for dining, the Farnsworth House has some fantastic upscale American cuisine to eat before the hunt begins!
Mr G’s Ice Cream
How can an ice cream shop have so many disturbances?
Formerly the home and tannery of John Winebrenner, Mr. G’s then became the Twin Sycamores house due to its location between two trees known as the Memory Trees. These were of note because the trees were young saplings during the battle, and it’s alleged that Abraham Lincoln walked past them both on the day of the Gettysburg Address.
Eventually, Mr. G’s moved in and became Gettysburg’s best-known ice cream parlor. The flavor in the photo above is black cherry chip, a personal favorite of mine.
Mr. G’s has outdoor seating, and there’s also the option to eat across the street at Unity Park. As for the spirits that haunt Mr. G’s, I hate to be cryptic, but I have to be, Traveler.
Some of the more infamous stories are copyrighted, and I couldn’t even regale them to you if I was giving a tour. But I can talk about EVP recordings, staff feeling like they’re being watched, and even some apparitions!
The Hoof, Fin, and Fowl
This is the last stop, Traveler! Whereas we spent the previous three visits at Confederate sniper outposts, The Hoof, Fin, and Fowl was closest to Cemetery Hill and the Union rally point. The house in the background is the former National Soldier’s Homestead, but even before that, it was the command post of Union General Oliver Otis Howard.
This area was also a field hospital; many northern soldiers were buried beneath the grounds. This is also where amputations were conducted. Wanna take a guess where the discarded limbs are buried?
That’s right, they were buried right here! According to the stories I’ve been told, they were. This area is known as Old Gettysburg Town and is very spiritually active, at least to me. When I took tour groups with dogs, the dogs refused to go toward the back of the restaurant. They’d often whine and whimper.
As for the restaurant, there were other restaurants on the ground before, Traveler. There were Crackerjacks and some other places, but they stayed only a short time. This isn’t indicative of the quality of the food inside, but some of us who have tread on the ground tend to tread lightly.
We hypothesize that there may be a curse.
As for the restaurant’s ghosts, we have some noisy ghosts here; the term in German is poltergeist. Once again, I hate to be cryptic, but I might not be allowed to divulge this tale. Though there is an investigation by Wolf Paranormal if your interest is piqued.
As for the food, HFF serves upscale cuisine, including a delicious salmon dinner.
Bonus: The Not Haunted Tommy’s Pizza!
For those of you Travelers who want nothing to do with the spiritual aspects of Gettysburg, well, I can’t promise that, but I can recommend a fantastic pizza place that I’ve never heard any ghost stories about!
That’s right, Tommy’s Pizza!
Tommy’s is a great local staple, and they serve a great slice. Being from the Philadelphia area, seeing such a classic, gooey, and thin crust-style way out in the south-central part of Pennsylvania is refreshing. The slices come out hot and quick and are a great way to spend the evening before the ghost hunt.
So I hope that satisfies both your curiosity and your appetite, Traveler. I know it was a lot, but you can’t say you didn’t have dining options in Gettysburg. And the best part of this journey is the miles of the battlefield we can walk to burn off all the calories!
Until again,
Safe Travels!
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