History & local legend
Schaumboch’s Tavern, also spelled Schambacher’s Tavern in local accounts, is an old roadside house on Hawk Mountain in Berks County. Its reputation is tied to nineteenth-century innkeeper Matthias Schambacher and legends that travelers disappeared after stopping there.
One later account comes from former resident Seth Benz. In a story published by Saucon Source in October 2020, Benz recalled being with other people when they heard heavy footsteps approach along the rear porch. Dragging noises followed. He then heard sounds he interpreted as sharpening a blade, an axe striking wood, and something falling and rolling across the porch before the footsteps and dragging resumed.