Penn Wells Hotel
4 Main Street
Wellsboro PA
2019

Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) of Padua, Italy invented the piano around 1700. Cristofori's instrument was originally called the clavicembalo col piano e forte, which translates to "harpsichord that can play soft and loud noises". The name was later shortened to "piano"

“People have reported hearing piano music, and claimed the place to be haunted, but I’ve never seen anything.”

The hotel was built in 1869 by Albert Pitkin Cone, a local attorney. The location had been a hotel called the United States House, owned by Hobart Graves, until it burned down. Cone bought the property and built the Penn Wells Hotel, which opened in 1870. After Cone’s death in 1872, the place went through several owners and several names. A destructive fire struck the hotel in March of 1906, and though the visitors evacuated, the hotel had to remove the fourth floor and operate as a three-story building.

Some of the online reviews mention ghosts, one saying simply that the hotel reminded them of a haunted house. Another very positive review mentioned that the visitor heard unexplained music playing during the night, which seems to be a common theme among reports at the hotel.

Some ghosts are known to haunt places they liked, or walk roads that they often walked in life. Some seem to follow the people they cared about, and that could explain the music at the Penn Wells Hotel.


Built in 1869 and renovated in the 1920s, the Penn Wells Hotel graces Wellsboro’s quaint, gas-lit Main Street. The Philadelphia Inquirer in the 1920s called the Hotel “the Gem of the Roosevelt Highway,” recognizing its location on the Historic Route 6 corridor between New York and Chicago. The Hotel is noted for its mahogany woodwork, high ceilings, wood-burning lobby fireplaces, and for hosting famous guests like Groucho Marx and Joan Crawford. The surrounding area offers miles of scenic and secluded hiking and biking trails, including those located at the Pine Creek Gorge and the acclaimed Pine Creek Rail Trail. The Hotel’s grand dining room features historic photos and is the venue for fine-dining service, weddings, and groups.

https://www.historichotels.org/us/hotels-resorts/penn-wells-hotel/

The Historic Penn Wells Hotel has welcomed visitors to Wellsboro for more than 150 years. The Hotel was constructed in 1869 and opened in 1870 as the Cone House. Initially guests were primarily engaged in commercial pursuits, staying in the Hotel for short stints after arriving by rail or coach, and some taking residence at the Hotel for longer periods as they worked in local industries. With its rebirth as the Penn Wells Hotel in 1926, the Hotel welcomed an increasing number of leisure travelers to the area.

Today, the Hotel is a member of the Historic Hotels of America, offering a well-preserved example of architecture from both its 1869 construction and its 1920s era interior finishings, as well as numerous historical items of note, such as the glass bulb American flag that adorns one wall in its elegant lobby and the black and white photos that line the dining room walls.

https://www.pennwells.com/about/history/

Benjamin Wister Morris, an agent of the Pine Creek Land Company, first came to Tioga County, Pennsylvania, from Philadelphia in 1805 with his wife, Mary Wells Morris, and their two children, Samuel and Rebecca. When they constructed their simple log cabin home, it was the only dwelling in what is now the borough of Wellsboro. Just one year later, with the Morrises still the only family living in the area, Wellsboro—apparently named for Benjamin’s wife—was designated as the county seat, through the agency of the Pine Creek Land Company.

The Hotel flourished throughout the rest of the 1920s and 30s, even in the face of the Great Depression. A reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer called it “the gem of the Roosevelt Highway,” and the Penn Wells was known as one of the classiest hotels with the best service and amenities in Pennsylvania. It became a destination, as opposed to a stopping point on the way through untamed northern Pennsylvania. A regular bus service ran from New York’s Waldorf-Astoria to the Hotel in the late 20s, bringing Groucho Marx to stay at the Hotel in 1928. Buses made special trips from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and even the B&O Railroad ran a special excursion from Pittsburgh. The Penn Wells was also a popular stop along the Greyhound bus route from New York to Chicago.

During WWII the Hotel served as a community gathering place, hosting Saturday evening Hoedowns, concerts, and various dinner events and meetings. Corning Glass works held their annual holiday party in 1946 and presented the Hotel with the American flag constructed of 1,438 glass Christmas ornaments that now hangs in the Hotel’s lobby. One distinguished guest of this era was Joan Crawford, who stayed at the Hotel in 1943, when she came to see the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. The Penn Wells also took on patriotic duties, housing the Ladies Room, where local women sewed clothes for the needy, and an observation post on the roof, built for detecting enemy aircraft.