History & local legend
Frankenberger Tavern in Mechanicsburg began as a stopping place for cattle drovers, the men who walked herds to market. Its best-known ghost story concerns a drover who celebrated a profitable sale by boasting that he had $300. According to the tale, someone heard him, robbed him and killed him during the night.
Museum director Steven Zimmerman recounted the story in a 2012 newspaper feature. The murdered traveler is said to appear at an upstairs window, and unexplained screams have also been associated with the building. The same feature included a separate recollection from a woman who had lived there as a girl: belongings moved overnight, as though someone had rearranged them while the household slept.
Sources
- Julia Hatmaker, The Patriot-News, interview with museum director Steven Zimmerman, October 2012
- Mechanicsburg Museum Association, current tavern name, address and restored building
- Historical marker inscription at the restored tavern, 217 East Main Street
- Cumberland County Historical Society’s Gardner Library, research into the tavern’s property history and variant family spelling
