HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
British-style pub housed in the c. 1736 Quackenbush House — Albany's second-oldest building — where staff report basement voices and faces appearing in the bar mirrors.
683 Broadway, Albany, NY 12207
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages (full restaurant); 21+ at the bar after dinner hours
Cost
$$
Standard British-style pub menu pricing; no admission charge to dine.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Ground-floor pub on Broadway; basement is staff-only and is the focus of the haunting
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1736 · Second-Oldest Building in Albany · National Register of Historic Places · Dutch Colonial Heritage · Quackenbush Family Residence
The Quackenbush House is one of the oldest surviving brick buildings in Albany. The front half of the structure, facing what is now Broadway, dates to approximately 1736 and was built by the Quackenbush family, prominent Dutch settlers who had been in Albany since the 17th century. The rear half of the building was added in the late 18th century. The Quackenbush family resided in the home for more than a hundred years; the last family member departed in 1864.
In the decades that followed, the building cycled through commercial uses including service as an antique store, a boarding house, and a tavern. The surrounding neighborhood became Quackenbush Square in a 20th-century redevelopment, anchored by the historic house and the adjacent 1870s pump station (now restored as the Albany Pump Station).
The Olde English Pub and Pantry took occupancy of the Quackenbush House in 2010 and has operated as a British-style pub and restaurant in the building since. The Quackenbush House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is documented by the Clio historical encyclopedia and News10 Albany's history coverage.
Sources
The Olde English Pub's haunted reputation is consistent across the Discover Albany tourism blog, US Ghost Adventures' Albany Ghost Tour stop, the Wandering Oddball ghost-blog account, and the venue's own about page. The most-cited phenomena are mirror-based: staff and patrons describe glancing at the large mirrors above the bar and over the fireplace and catching faces other than the reflected room. Local tradition frames the mirrors as a 'conduit' between the living building and its long history.
The basement is the more consistently active area according to staff retellings. Employees describe hearing voices coming from the basement when the building is otherwise empty at closing time. The most-repeated account, recorded by the Wandering Oddball ghost blog and retold by tour operators, is of an employee waiting in the upstairs pub for his brother to pick him up after closing. He heard his name called from the open basement door — a voice he initially mistook for his brother's, before realizing his brother had not yet arrived. He declined to investigate and would not return to the basement that night.
The building's three-century history as a Quackenbush family residence, antique store, boarding house, and tavern provides ample candidates for the apparitional faces, but specific named persons are not attached to the lore. The activity is described as benign — startling rather than threatening.
Notable Entities
Dine at the British-style Olde English Pub inside the c. 1736 Quackenbush House — the second-oldest building in Albany. Tour-tradition lore points to the bar-mirror sightings and basement voice-phenomena reported by staff. The basement itself is not open to the public.
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