1797 Vermont Inn With Prohibition-Era Folklore
325 Main Street, Norwich, VT 05055
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Standard Vermont inn rates; rates vary seasonally.
Access
Limited Access
Historic inn with multiple buildings and stairs
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1797 · Colonial-Era Mansion · President James Monroe Visit · Prohibition-Era Tavern
Colonel Jasper Murdock, a Dartmouth graduate and one of the wealthiest men in early Vermont, completed his Norwich mansion in 1797. The structure was reputed at the time to be the finest residence in the state. Norwich sits across the Connecticut River from Hanover, New Hampshire, placing the Inn in the heart of what is now the Upper Valley region.
On July 22, 1817, President James Monroe stopped at the Inn during his New England tour, addressed townspeople, and dined with the community. The Inn passed through successive owners through the 19th century. A devastating fire in December 1889 consumed the original hotel along with the Union Hall and several neighboring structures. Local dentist Dr. Bowles financed the rebuild, and the Inn reopened in 1890 in essentially the form it retains today.
In 1920, Dr. Bowles sold the property to Charles and Mary Walker, who renamed it the Norwich Inn. The Walker era coincided with the start of national Prohibition, and local accounts hold that Mary, known as Ma, kept the Inn's tavern tradition alive by selling bootleg liquor from the basement. The Inn now operates with 40 guest rooms across the historic Main Inn, the more recent Walker House, and the four-room Ivy Lodge.
Sources
Among Vermont inns, the Norwich's folklore is unusually well documented in local sources. Mary Walker, known to townspeople as 'Ma,' ran the Inn through the Prohibition era starting in 1920, and is widely credited with maintaining the tavern's hidden liquor trade from the basement. Her bootleg cellar was popular with Dartmouth students — including a young Theodor Seuss Geisel, the Class of 1925 graduate later known as Dr. Seuss, whose cartoons of fellow students lifting frothy mugs survive in the inn's hotel register, on display in the parlor.
After Ma Walker's death, accounts collected by Vermont folklore writers and the Inn's own historical narrative describe her continuing presence. Reported phenomena include toilets flushing without occupants, faucets cycling without intervention, and rocking chairs in motion in unoccupied rooms. The third floor is most often associated with the activity, and Room 21 in particular carries a long-running reputation as 'the Ma Walker room.' The Shadowlands account references Room 20 as the locus, but regional folklore sources consistently identify Room 21.
Dining-room sightings describe a woman in a black formal gown moving through the dining room without disturbing diners. The Inn does not market a haunted-investigation program; the folklore exists alongside, rather than as the centerpiece of, the property's hospitality.
Notable Entities
Book a room at the 1797 Norwich Inn, where the third floor and Room 20 carry the longest folklore — both associated with the Inn's Prohibition-era owner Mary Ma Walker. The Main Inn holds 17 rooms; the more recent Walker House and Ivy Lodge buildings round out 40 total guest rooms.
The Norwich Inn's tavern operates on the same footprint where Mary Walker is said to have run a Prohibition-era bootleg operation from the basement. Folklore places her presence in the dining room as well, occasionally seen passing through in a black formal dress.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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