History & local legend
The former Black Horse Inn beside the Delaware Canal near Easton is associated with Saverio Damiano, a Prohibition-era mobster better known as Johnny Ferrara. In July 1928, he was using the telephone in the hallway when a gunman entered and shot him. Northampton County historical society researcher Sarah White recounted that history while discussing the building’s ghost tradition.
Later occupants called the restaurant Stemie’s Place, and it eventually became the Iron Mule. Accounts of Johnny’s return followed the business through those changes. Paranormal investigators described receiving the word “whacked” from a device designed to produce words during investigations. In a 2020 restaurant profile, owner Kate Hug associated him with chairs moving around the premises.
The shooting supplies a named person and a definite event behind the legend. The sightings and moving chairs are later reports attached to the same riverside building, distinct from the former Black Horse Tavern in downtown Easton.
Sources
- Olivia Richardson, Lehigh Valley Public Media, interview with historical society tour curator Sarah White
- Lehigh Valley Style, interview with Iron Mule owner Kate Hug and bartender Scott Morgan, July 2020
- Anthony C. Hayes, Baltimore Post-Examiner, interview with paranormal investigators about the Easton tavern’s Ovilus reading
- Saucon Source, account of the shooting and investigation giving 831 South Delaware Drive
- OpenStreetMap, named Iron Mule restaurant building and verified street address
