Long Description:At the time of posting this waymark, I was working at the location
for 2-3 months. I was taking photo's of the contents and of the
buliding itself. It was not until after my visits to the location
did I find out it was hauted. Anyway, this is all the information I
found about the location. (as taken from ghostsrus).........
James Potter was an aide-de-camp to General George Washington
during the Revolutionary War and was a veteran of the
French-and-Indian War as well. He served with distinction and when
he retired from military life, Potter bought a large tract of land
and settled it. He built a log house to handle the traffic that he
hoped would come and named the building the Eutaw House after a
local Indian tribe that lived further up the mountain. The village
was called Potter’s Bank originally, but the little village Potter
started was known among the teamsters, traders and trappers as
Potter’s Mills because of the large saw and grist mills Potter had
built in the area. The name stuck and today Potter’s Mills still
bears that name.
After James Potter died in 1789 his grandsons decided to
construct a new building for the Eutaw House because the cabin was
no longer big enough nor fancy enough. The present-day Eutaw House
was constructed near the foundation of the old cabin.
The old colonial inn served as a stop on the stage coach routes,
and welcomed many a traveler for over one hundred years. Through
different owners it changed names, but never it’s reputation for
welcoming a traveler with good food and friendly service.
In 1939 a Centre County native, Harrison Edgar Shawley bought
the property. As he was rummaging around in the attic, he stumbled
upon the old, original sign with the name of the Eutaw House and he
decided that the sign and the name should once again be associated
with the property. He restored both to their proper places.
The most interesting and controversial story associated with the
Eutaw House would be the story of Edgar Allen Poe. Shawley insisted
that in 1839 Edgar Allen Poe spent a night or two at the Eutaw
House on is way to Poe Valley just two miles up the road. He
claimed that Poe’s luggage had been lost along the journey and Poe
stayed for the night at the stage stop in Potter’s Mills while he
waited for his luggage to catch up with him. The luggage was
recovered in time and Poe went on to supposedly dispose of some
family property in Poe Valley after a cousin’s death.
Shawley, however, went even further and insisted that Poe
actually fell in love with a mountain girl named Helena Hallferty
Park, who is somehow represented by the name "Lenore" in the poem
The Raven. Perhaps "Lenore" was a pseudonym or a nickname for the
young Helen who broke Poe’s heart during his stay in Poe Valley.
Shawley insisted that while Poe was disposing of family property he
returned to the comfort of the Eutaw house and was staying there
when he penned "The Raven" as a tribute to his unrequited love. The
story claimed that after taking one of his solitary walks through
the woods in Poe Valley, he stumbled upon a mountaintop called High
Valley. The young Poe paused to watch as large black birds plunged
and flew around an area called Ravens’ Knob. Ravens’ Knob was a
nesting place for the birds. Poe was enchanted with the birds and
their pained cries so like his own sorrow-filled heart. Here, the
story goes, Poe wrote his famous poem in a rush of emotion.
Shawley traced the tale to the days when a man by the name of
John Coverly was the innkeeper at the Eutaw House. However, there
are those who insist that Coverly was a storyteller and that there
is no truth to the tales at all. There is evidence on both sides.
Poe was married to his young cousin in 1839, and by all accounts
his love for her was total. How then, could Poe have fallen
instantly in love with another young woman? There are no hotel
ledgers or legal documents to prove that Poe was ever in the area,
but we do know that James Potter’s daughter Elizabeth marred a
James Poe of Franklin County and that this same man was perhaps a
distant relative of Edgar Allen Poe. It is also rumored that Poe
carved his name on a table or a wall in his room. Today a rustic
table in the hall of the second floor bears the scratched
E.A.P.
However, the current owner, Kathy, is quick to point out that
anyone could have carved those initials there. It does not take
long to realize that the Eutaw House is very haunted. We were in
the building only a few moments the night of our first
investigation before the staff began to talk. The stories, both
historical and anecdotal are legion.
During the years when it was a rest stop on the stagecoach
routes, not only businessmen and families were stopping there. It
is said that a prison wagon laid over there one night. A prisoner
was housed in a locked room in the attic for the night. Here the
story seems to diverge. In one version the man tried to escape and
was shot running away. He was carried back to the attic where he
was laid once more upon his pallet and he died there. In the other
version he hung himself in the night rather than continue on as a
prisoner. Either way, oral history insists that a man died in the
one room in the attic. During a visit there, Scott and I took a few
shots and picked up a single orb in that room.
Another traditional story dating from the early days of the
Eutaw House is that the local Indians would come down from the
mountain to raid the Eutaw House stables of horses. One night,
during such a raid, one of the Indian men was captured and hung for
horse theft. I spoke to a woman who had worked at the Eutaw House
when the Shawleys owned it, and she told me that the staff would
often congregate upon the second floor balcony beyond the ballroom
after hours for a drink and to unwind after a hard night’s work. On
many nights the staff would hear what sounded like the creaking of
a rope in the large old tree at the corner of the property and the
sound of something soft and heavy thudding against the tree if the
wind was heavy. Though the staff occasionally looked for the source
of the sound, there was none. They believed that it was the body of
the hung Indian thudding against the tree as the rope creaked.
Kathy said that the previous owners told her that every morning
they would get up to find one of the dining room tables messed up
as though three people were up in the night having a meal--but no
one earthly had been indulging in midnight snacks!
People have heard a little girl crying. Reports of the little
girl, who appears to be about seven years old, have long been
associated with this house. She has been seen on the main stairs,
in the yard and inside the building in other spots.
A woman in black is also seen. She has often appeared on the
stairs alone or with the crying little girl on the second floor.
The woman seems to be dressed in mourning clothing.
Along with these two apparitions there seems to be yet one more
specter in residence at the house. This figure is a man who is
described as slim, with dark hair, a dark mustache, and a dark
complexion. In fact, the man resembles Edgar Allen Poe. However, no
one has ever said it was Poe. This man seems connected with the
woman in black and the little girl who cries. He has been seen with
them both outside and inside of the house.
The current staff will tell stories of sighting the woman in
black and hearing footsteps where no one walks. They talk about
lights turning off and on by themselves on the second floor. In the
room rumored to have been Poe’s, one of the staff insists that the
light will turn itself on after dark.
A waitress on the first floor in the Kiva Room had a very
unnerving experience. The young lady brought in a large tray laden
with food. She had set it upon a small folding serving table in
order to serve the plates. While she was talking to one of the
ladies at the table, the tray picked itself up, turned itself
upside down and food flew all over the table. The young man who
related this tale to us said that one of the guests began to cry
because she couldn’t understand how this could have happened.
However, there is nothing frightening at the Eutaw House. The
staff is experienced, well mannered and knowledgeable. You’ll
receive a good meal, a tasty drink and wonderful service. Kathy
lives in the building herself, and she will be the first person to
tell you that the ghosts in the Eutaw House are friendly.