The Barnhill Ghosts, Part 1

Edwin and Jeanette Barnhill had big dreams when they built the DeLand Hotel in 1924. Sadly, the life they hoped to build together would never come to be. Just four years after they built the hotel, Jeanette Barnhill died. A year later, Edwin was declared insane.

Some say it was Jeanette’s ghost that drove him mad. Even before she died, she had hounded him about his drinking, and she was fanatical about turning lights off to save money. After she died, they continued to disagree.  Employees and guests would hear the widowed hotelier arguing with his wife’s spirit about how the hotel should be managed. He would also shout furiously at her, demanding that she stop looking over his shoulder while he was doing the books.

Over time, the hotel slowly spiraled into a deep decline. A prostitute was strangled on the premises. At one point, a troubled guest refused to leave his room. When the police came, he told them that an old woman in 1920s clothing had told him not to leave.

Welcome to South Main Street, Phillipsburg, New Jersey!
  1. South Main Street, Phillipsburg, New Jersey Walking Tour
  2. Northampton "Free" Bridge
  3. Union Square
  4. Union Square Hotel
  5. The Apothecarium
  6. Bullman Street Stairway
  7. Phillipsburg Arts Building
  8. Elks Club Building
  9. Presbyterian Manse
  10. Stites and Lander Stewart Mansion
  11. 96-98 South Main St
  12. Dale Estate
  13. 118 South Main St
  14. Phillipsburg National Bank
  15. 129 South Main St
  16. 131 South Main St
  17. Skinner Building
  18. 165 South Main St
  19. Union Train Station
  20. Red Vandergrift "Black" Bridge
  21. Joe's Steak Shop
  22. Shappell Park
  23. Thanks for visiting South Main Street in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.