History & local legend
Willow Grove Hotel in Freemansburg stands beside Lock 44 on the Lehigh Canal. The hotel and nearby mule barn appeared in scenery filmed for The Farmer Takes a Wife in 1935, linking the property with the canal's later public memory.
Its ghost tradition concerns a little girl reportedly seen in rooms and corridors, sometimes tugging at men's trouser legs. In an April 20, 2016 comment, a woman named Tina described another experience while she and her niece were getting ready for a baseball game. Storage bins flew across her grandchildren's room, she said, frightening both women. Tina connected that incident with the hotel's child spirit.
Sources
- Haunted Places, Willow Grove Hotel legend and Tina’s personal account, April 20, 2016
- Bethlehem Morning Star Rotary, the hotel address and its position at the path to Lock 44
- Martha Capwell Fox, National Canal Museum, the 1935 film and Lock 44 scenery
- Library of Congress, Jet Lowe’s engineering survey image identifying the Willow Grove Hotel beside the canal
- Esri World Geocoder, 655 Main Street in Freemansburg
