Tears and Lilacs
Greetings From the Haunted Tillie Pierce House Bed and Breakfast
Once more, I am due in Gettysburg, Traveler.
Later, in October 2024, I was grateful to appear at an in-store event courtesy of my old alma mater, Ghost City Tours. The incredible Andy at the Gettysburg office wanted features, and I was happy to oblige. I was there on October 19th alongside two incredible peers and friends, MONDOdocs and Sanguine Macabre.
With a lineup like that, I would need to pull my weight. So, what would I bring to this meet and greet?
It’s only fitting that I chose a place I’d wanted to go to since 2021 when I gave tours about it. There’s a saying in Gettysburg among tour guides: If someone asks, “Is my hotel haunted?” The response, before I would learn which hotel the guest is speaking about, is a resounding yes.
The Tillie Pierce house still finds a way to stand out in a town filled to the brim with haunted hotels, motels, inns, and bed and breakfasts. And that’s not just because it’s haunted, Traveler. The Tillie Pierce is also quite affordable, provides breakfast, and has impeccable service.
With that, away we go, Traveler.
Who was Tillie Pierce?
Matilda “Tillie” Pierce was born in Gettysburg to parents James and Margaret. Such a distinction bestows the mantle of Gettysburg Original on a resident. It’s quite the sought-after title in the tourism market regarding Gettysburg. Tillie was 15 when the Battle of Gettysburg broke out outside her family home on Baltimore Street. Her parents decided to evacuate Tillie to the Weikert farm south of town in the area of Round Top under the assumption that the farm would be safer.
They were wrong.
By the end of day one of the Battle of Gettysburg, dead soldiers from both sides lined not just the streets but were strewn about the yards and farms of the residents of the town. Lee handed the Union a swift bludgeoning, leading to a massive retreat to the southwest side of town, Cemetery Hill. On the high ground, General George Meade awaited Lee’s attacks on days two and three, working to shore up his ranks and maintain presence on Little Round Top.
But this isn’t about Meade or Lee, the Confederate States of America, or the Army of the Potomac, Traveler. This story is about a teenage girl stuck in a farmhouse, surrounded on all sides by the battle that developed right next door.
The shots rang out right as Tillie arrived at the farm on the back of a troop transport wagon on the first day of the battle. That night, the wounded soldiers limped and dragged their bodies to the Weikart Farm, seeking aid and rest.
According to Wikipedia, Tillie was also told by a chaplain at the farm, “Little girl, do all you can for the poor soldiers, and the Lord will reward you.”
With that, Tillie Pierce became an amateur field nurse at the Battle of Gettysburg. She performed duties ranging from providing bread and water to the soldiers to assisting with significant field procedures. Not only that, she kept a journal of the ordeal. At Gettysburg or What a Girl Saw and Heard of the Battle. A True Narrative is available in its entirety through the Penn Library online at the link provided.
After the battle, Tillie returned home and continued her life as a nurse. She lived a long and whole life, succumbing to cancer in 1914 in her 60s.
The Check In Process
I pulled off to the side of Baltimore Street and went inside the Tillie Pierce Inn. The sign-in desk is in the first office, just past the dining room and next to the kitchen in the back on the first floor. The front door was open, and I felt welcomed. The home beckoned me inside.
Understand Traveler that after the check-in process, which ends after the last guest checks in (usually still during daylight), the front door is closed and locked. We are given a key to the front door and your room. We are also shown around the property, given a history of the Inn and a brief history of Tillie and her role in the war, and we are free to ask questions. A gift shop contains What A Girl Saw, among other things. Breakfast is at 9 am. Also, we will be provided with complimentary parking space depending on availability.
We’re close to Cemetery Hill, the Jennie Wade House, and the Orphanage, all of which will be due south from the Tillie Pierce House. To the north, we have the place I was a guest at, Ghost City Tours! But we also have Lincoln Square, the library, and a fantastic variety of restaurants.
Where to Eat
And we have my favorite restaurant here, too! Borough BBQ, right off of York Street, has the best brisket sandwich I’ve eaten. The service is friendly, and if there’s a negative to the place, it’s too busy because the food is so good. However, the staff rises to the challenge as the service is quick, efficient, and accurate. In the same space is a sister restaurant, The Upper Crust, where we can order delicious, oven-fired pizza instead.
They also have an ice cream parlor, Lulu’s Finest Ice Cream. While they get fantastic reviews, and I’m aching to try them when I’m in town again, I’ll always end up at my favorite haunted ice cream parlor, Mr. G’s. (Who can resist that famous black cherry chip?) Mr. G’s can be found south of the Tillie Pierce, just off Baltimore Street.
Where to Shop
That’s a good point, Traveler! I have to answer the question with another question.
Where would you like to shop?
The Nerd Herd: Gifts and Games store is run entirely by local students and funded by local investors. It sells board games, tabletop games, and learning games of the mind variety for Little Travelers to keep their minds growing and occupied.
Sweeet!, back on Baltimore Street, is a candy collector’s dream. It’s the only one of its kind in Gettysburg, for sure, but in my experience, their selection can’t be beaten. And the prices are excellent. I have to go back in and verify, but I swear they sell the classic Bawls energy soda from when I was a teenager. Think of it as a precursor to Red Bull Traveler.
(The affiliate links were worth a shot, right?)
Walking back down Baltimore Street leads us past gift shops, outfitters, and the used book store beneath the library. Furthermore, we get a history lesson along the way, complete with statues such as Lincoln and Thaddeus Stevens and historical markers that mention not just the battle but the history of Gettysburg before and after.
And speaking of after, after that small bowl of Mister G’s ice cream to top off the best brisket sandwich I can remember, I had a case of a food coma and beat a path back to my room. I decided, or instead, my body did, that I would do things differently this time.
This time, I would conduct the seance early in the morning.
I hadn’t intended on it, though, Traveler. An hour’s nap turned into a six-and-a-half-hour nap.
But, Is It Haunted?
I can’t tell you who did or didn’t die at the inn, Traveler. No one really has any idea other than it’s certain that Tillie didn’t die there. She lived a reasonably long life and died in Philadelphia in 1914. As for the battle, people died everywhere. There were 50,000 estimated deaths, captures, or wounded as a result of the Battle of Gettysburg. Those numbers fluctuate due to bodies being lost several times in a comedy of errors and the tragedy of mother nature before the construction of Gettysburg National Cemetery. Gettysburg is believed to be filled to the top with spiritual energy.
Regardless of who did or didn’t die in the home, I do have a theory on that very topic, which can be found in a previous article I wrote regarding the Hotel Indigo in Birmingham, Alabama. To sum up, sometimes, when we die, we aren’t beholden to where we passed, but perhaps we end up back where we spent most of our emotional energy.
And that would make the most sense regarding the former residents of the Tillie Pierce House who went on to live relatively long and fulfilling lives.
Notably, former soldiers can be seen and heard walking around the house. There is also supposed to be a kind of rascally poltergeist can’t whose name I can’t remember for the life of me. The inn plays into this one, leaving cat balls and toys in a bowl in the upstairs hallway, in case you didn’t bring any ghost-hunting equipment.
My stay yielded the following results: the brief smell of lilacs, the feeling of being watched from the corner of my room, footsteps out in the hallway in the early hours of the morning that sounded like they came from the Blue Room (I can’t confirm that these were or weren’t one of the guests), and when I tried sleeping again at one a.m., I did hear a woman sobbing in the same corner from which I felt them watching.
That got me to stay up for another two hours.
You can see more about the investigation in this video on my Youtube channel, Traveler.
My Final Thoughts
The staff was friendly and amazing, and the breakfast was incredible. It was scrambled eggs, home fries, and pastries, Traveler. The pastries are available at any time of day and include muffins and cookies. The parking lot was safe, and the stay was quiet.
Well, except for the ghosts. Please bear that in mind when booking the Tillie Pierce.
Until again,
Safe Travels.
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