Est. 1754 · Colonial New England Architecture · Underground Railroad Station · National Register of Historic Places · Revolutionary War
Captain William Grant built the house in 1754 in Poquetanuck Village, a small settlement along Route 2A in what is now the town of Preston. The construction is colonial in character — heavy timber framing, low ceilings, wide-plank floors — and reflects the architectural conventions of prosperous New England households of the period.
Grant went to sea. He did not return. His wife Mercy lived in the house into her eighties, and three generations of the Grant family followed her. The property's most documented non-family chapter came during the Revolutionary War period, when records indicate Continental soldiers were sheltered on the premises. A later period of social significance involved the house's role as a station on the Underground Railroad, providing shelter to people escaping enslavement from southern states.
The bed and breakfast has operated since the 1980s and has been cited by CNN and USA Today among notable haunted inns in the United States. The inn is a seven-room property in southeastern Connecticut, within driving distance of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, which makes it a regular lodging option for visitors to the region who happen to be interested in historic properties.
A nearby cemetery, accessible from the inn, is associated with the property's paranormal reputation and included in seasonal tour programming.
Sources
- https://www.captaingrants.com/
- https://www.hauntedrooms.com/connecticut/haunted-places/haunted-hotels/captain-grants-1754
- https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/stays/connecticut/captain-grants-haunted-inn-ct
- https://www.damnedct.com/captain-grants-inn-preston/
ApparitionsPhantom footstepsPhantom voicesLights flickeringObject movementDoors opening/closing
The Adelaide Room carries the inn's central account. Mercy Adelaide Avery — identified in local tradition as either Captain Grant's wife or a later resident waiting for a spouse lost at sea — appears in the room named for her. Guests report her at the foot of the bed, in Colonial-era clothing, sometimes alone and sometimes with two children beside her. The account has been reported by guests who arrived without knowledge of the inn's haunted reputation.
The specificity of the Adelaide Room apparition has made it a point of interest for paranormal researchers. The detail of the children is consistent across multiple independent accounts spanning different years. Whether this represents a genuine recurring phenomenon or a narrative that propagates through the inn's marketing and is then 'experienced' by suggestible guests is a question the available record does not resolve.
Deborah Adams is associated with the cemetery a short walk from the inn. She is described as a young girl, buried in the adjacent graveyard, who has been observed inside the inn. At least one staff account describes her walking through the employee as though the person were not there — a physical contact report that is unusual even within the inn's broader lore.
Guests report televisions turning on and off in unoccupied rooms, loud bangs from empty upper floors, objects disappearing and reappearing in different locations, and footsteps in the attic. Disembodied voices have been captured by amateur investigators staying at the property. The inn offers seasonal programming around these accounts, including Halloween ghost tour events with guided cemetery walks.
Notable Entities
Mercy Adelaide AveryDeborah Adams
