History & local legend
Old Hickory in Coudersport was an inn known for dinners, dances, banquets and overnight accommodation. Its ghost story concerns a young man who, according to the tale, was served alcohol while underage and then shot during a fight in the bar.
Those present supposedly feared the consequences of reporting what had happened. They carried him to an upstairs room and left him there, where he died. The young man’s lingering presence became the explanation for the inn’s haunted reputation.
Paranormal photographer Donna Kent published the story alongside a photograph she took at the property in 1995.
Sources
- Donna Kent, Cosmic Society, photograph dated 1995 with Coudersport Old Hickory Inn account
- Phil Hesser, Mountain Home, Out of the Shadows, interview with restorer and history of the Old Hickory inn
- Preservation Pennsylvania, Old Hickory (F. W. Knox Residence), page 14
- Esri, exact-match property address
