History & local legend
The Inn at Montrose occupies the site of the former Exchange Hotel, which burned on Christmas morning in 1923. Its successor became known as Montrose House, and Room 5 acquired a reputation for a mischievous child’s presence.
One guest recalled a stay in 1993 during which knocking and a child’s giggling came from outside the room. Opening the door revealed an empty hallway. After going downstairs and returning, the guest found a lampshade lying on the bed.
Seema Singh described a different Room 5 experience in a comment posted on March 20, 2018. The room was so cold that she contacted the innkeeper at about two in the morning, unable to make the heating unit produce warm air. By the next morning, she was moving to another room. When she returned for a final check, the heater began blowing hot air. Knowing the story of the boy, Singh wondered whether the abrupt change was another of his tricks.
Sources
- Pennsylvania Haunted Houses, The Montrose House, guest’s firsthand account of a 1993 stay in room five, under “This happened to me”
- Seema Singh, March 20, 2018, describes her room-five stay in a firsthand comment posted to Haunted Places
- Susquehanna County Historical Society, history published by the Montrose House, Christmas 1923 fire and later hotel
- The Inn at Montrose, current operator and innkeeper Gretchen Platt
- The Inn at Montrose, 458 South Main Street, present hotel address
