Duxbury's 1741 Pre-Revolutionary Farmhouse — Lysander Still Keeps the Candles
500 Congress St, Duxbury, MA 02332
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Upscale casual dining; check suntavernrestaurant.com for current menu pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved parking lot and ground-floor dining access in country farmhouse setting
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1741 · Pre-Revolutionary War Structure · Duxbury South Shore Heritage
The front section of the building at 500 Congress Street in Duxbury was constructed in 1741, approximately 35 years before American independence. Its earliest documented use is residential; the property changed hands several times over the following two centuries.
The building's most notable tenant was Lysander Walker, who occupied it in the late 19th century. Neighbors reported that Walker became increasingly reclusive over time; the Boston Herald called him the 'Last Duxbury Hermit.' The Belknap family checked on him regularly. On October 3, 1928, young Gladys Belknap found that Walker had died by suicide, having signaled his distress by hanging an American flag upside down at the corner of the house.
Father Francis Keegan purchased the property in the 1930s and invited Mary Hackett to operate it as a restaurant. David Wells bought it in 1964 and renamed it Fiddler's Green Restaurant, marketing it as an English pub. The name changed to The Sun Tavern in 1987 under Larry and Carol Friedman's ownership. Gary, Debbie, and Annie James have operated it since 2017.
The restaurant operates Tuesday through Saturday 5-9:30 PM and Sunday 4-9 PM, closed Monday.
Sources
The candle story is the most specific and the most documented. The Sun Tavern's own official history states the building is 'inhabited by the ghost of Lysander Walker.' The pattern: staff extinguish every candle at the table as part of the nightly closing routine, the owner prepares to leave, and one candle is found relit in the darkened room. The account appears in the restaurant's own materials and is corroborated in multiple independent sources.
Walker's figure has been reported near the telephone. The specificity of location — not a hallway, not a stairwell, but at the telephone — is the kind of detail that tends to persist across independent accounts because it is odd enough to note but not dramatic enough to fabricate for effect.
Walker was, by contemporary accounts, a man in retreat from other people. He died in 1928 in the building where he had chosen to live in near-isolation. The upside-down flag at the corner of the house was the signal the Belknaps found — a deliberate communication from a man who had, evidently, planned ahead.
The History Goes Bump podcast dedicated an episode to haunted Duxbury, Massachusetts, covering the Sun Tavern among other sites. The accounts it assembles are consistent with the restaurant's own materials.
Notable Entities
Fine dining inside one of the South Shore's oldest standing structures. Lysander Walker — who died there in 1928 — is credited with relighting table candles after staff extinguish them for the night. Staff have documented his ghost standing near the telephone. Reservations available through OpenTable.
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