Est. 1810 · Battle of Gettysburg · Civil War Field Hospital · Confederate Sharpshooter Position · Gettysburg Historic District
The Farnsworth House began as a two-story log dwelling built around 1810 by John F. McFarlane, a tanner and local civic leader who had purchased a portion of land originally held by the Dobbin family. McFarlane added a brick wing in 1833, a date confirmed by a single inscribed brick discovered during a 1970s restoration.
The building's role in the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 defines its historical importance. During the three-day engagement, Confederate forces occupied the inn and used the upper floors and attic as a sharpshooter position, with the structure also pressed into service as a temporary field hospital. On the third day of the battle, Union soldiers concentrated fire on the building to dislodge the Confederate snipers. The south wall of the property still carries more than 100 documented bullet holes, one of the most visible surviving examples of structural battle damage in the borough of Gettysburg.
The house was later named for Brigadier General Elon J. Farnsworth, the young Union cavalry officer who led a fatal charge on the final day of the battle. Restored beginning in the 1970s, the property now operates as an inn, restaurant, and tour stop. The Schultz family, longtime operators, maintain it as one of Gettysburg's most-visited civilian Civil War buildings.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farnsworth_House_Inn
- https://farnsworthhouseinn.com/about/
- https://destinationgettysburg.com/members/farnsworth-house-tours/
- https://gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/10/06/the-farnsworth-house-inn-bullet-holes-fine-dining-an-attic-full-of-ghosts/
- https://gettysburgghosts.com/the-farnsworth-house-inn/
ApparitionsPhantom soundsCold spotsDisembodied laughterShadow figures
The Farnsworth House is one of the most actively-marketed haunted properties in Gettysburg. The Schultz family, who restored the inn beginning in the 1970s, have catalogued as many as sixteen spirits across the building, each given a name and a recurring set of reported behaviors.
The most frequently described phenomenon involves the attic, the position Confederate sharpshooters occupied during the battle. Staff and overnight guests have reported hearing the sound of a Jew's harp drifting down from the floor above when the attic is verified empty. The story attached to the sound identifies the player as a young soldier who, in the building's lore, did not leave his post.
Other recurring reports include a midwife figure observed near the Sara Black Room, a man carrying a small child wrapped in cloth, and the sound of a soldier singing to a wounded comrade in the cellar. The inn hosts regular ghost walks and the Mourning Theatre, a candle-lit storytelling program that uses the building's actual rooms as performance space.
The property has been featured in segments produced by paranormal-television crews and remains a fixture on Gettysburg's commercial ghost-tour circuit. The Schultz family openly markets the haunted reputation while preserving the building's documented Civil War provenance.
Notable Entities
The Attic MusicianMary the MidwifeThe Man with the Child
Media Appearances
- Unsolved Mysteries
- Sightings
- Multiple paranormal-television productions
- Ghost Lab: Dead Will Rise Again (S2E1) (2010)
- BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural: The Gettysburg Ghosts of Farnsworth House Inn (2021)
