Manassas Virginia
Olde Town Inn in Manassas
War casualties can relive their deaths; trying to change the outcome.
DESCRIPTION
“Your Home Away From Home.” It has been described by a guest as being an “Old School” motel that is very homey. The Olde Town Inn offers “56 non-smoking beautifully decorated guest rooms designed for maximum comfort with a full array of Motel amenities. Olde Towne is ideal for both business and leisure travelers.”
Olde Town Inn is a lovely two story structure; made up of two sections. The rectangular, two story older historic building sits right on Main Street, while the two more modern wings of rooms stretch out behind it in right angles to the original structure. The older section is a beautiful red brick building, with its dining room and tavern on the first floor, and rooms on the second floor. The second floor rooms had awnings and balconies overlooking the street, with beautiful iron work.
The old dining room and tavern are not in use as of July of 2016, with its street windows sealed with plastic; probably being renovated. The windows on the other side were filled in when they added the wings of new rooms. There is a tiny reception and mini coffee station by the first floor entrance until the renovations to the first floor are finished. All rooms have a fridge, microwave, free wifi, cable, ironing boards, etc.
Looking on their website, the rooms are quite inviting, with upscale furnishings. The owners and manager try very hard to present a very nice place for their guests to spend the night.
HISTORY
The area of Manassas, Virginia, got its claim to fame as being the place of two Civil War Battles: The first Battle of Bull Run in 1861, and The second Battle of Bull Run in 1862 that took place out on the farmland; a distance from town. At the time of these battles, the city of Manassas was little more than a railroad crossroads junction, and was called Manassas Junction. The trains that stopped here went to Washington D. C., Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley. The Old Town Inn was a central business that took care of travelers and railroad personnel; offering a tavern, a place to spend the night and a place to eat.
Despite the fact that the Confederate Troops won both of these Bull Run Battles, the Union Army kept control of this vitally important Manassas railroad junction for most of the Civil War. During the duration of the Civil War, the Olde Town Inn probably was the main place for Union army personnel as well as other travelers to stay as guests, keeping Olde Town Inn in business, serving whomever needed a drink and meal or a place to stay.
After the Civil War ended, Manassas Junction grew and became an official Virginia town in 1872. It was such an up and coming town because it was a railroad crossroads center that connected main cities and areas, it was given the honor of becoming the county seat for Prince William County in 1892.
In 1975, the town of Manassas was incorporated as a city, and became its own independent government, being separated from Prince William County.
The Olde Inn at Manassas has been improved throughout its long history, to better its business prospects and stay competitive. The building does keep some of its historical elements from its past, including a much loved spirit who is accepted as a unseen resident by the owners and staff who work at the Olde Town Inn in Manassas.
HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS
People who loose their special someone who had promised to return to them but never did because of sudden folly, death or desertion, sometimes when in spirit form continue to wait for their beloved to return, still holding onto their dream of happiness with this missing love of their life.
A young woman, Lucy, may have been the innkeeper’s daughter or employee, or a guest who fled her farm or home at the time of the Civil War. Perhaps she lost her beloved to one of the Battles of Bull Run.
People who die of an illness or sudden medical problem sometimes choose to stay in the structure where they died.
Sometimes spirits who were fun-loving while alive, continue to get their chuckles by becoming playful and instigating jokes on the living who they come in contact with.
Lucy entertains herself and cheers herself up by doing a number of physical things to startle people who work here and guests who stay in the rooms she likes. Perhaps she likes to make connections to the living to feel less alone.
MANIFESTATIONS
The Entity of Miss Lucy – She likes room 52 best but also visits 50 and 54!
The Entity of Miss Lucy – The Jokester
She likes to go under the mattresses of the beds found in the rooms listed above, and poke people as they lay down on the mattress. Sometimes she just tugs on the mattresses.
She likes to pull on people’s feet, and probably take their covers off as well, if she feels really playful.
She sometimes likes to elevate people a few inches off the bed as they lay there or sleep.
She likes to make loud noises in the bathrooms, and turn on the water faucets in the bathrooms as well.
Irresistable Temptations
Miss Lucy likes to mess up the newly made beds, unplugs electrical appliances, and making strange scratching sounds.
Miss Lucy likes to play with the lights and other electrical modern day items, finding them an irresistible temptation.
She likes to move items around the rooms.
Miss Lucy Loves Children
Miss Lucy has a big heart for kids.
She won’t joke around with their parents if kids are in the room because she doesn’t want to scare them.
She has briefly appeared to kids just long enough for them to see her and know that she was with them.
She Likes to People-Watch!
Guests can feel her unseen presence watching them with interest, but not in a hostile manner.
One couple whom she really liked got a surprise in the restaurant.
The female guest was sitting at the booth when a woman appearing very real approached her, wearing a nightgown and bathrobe, asking where the main counter was located.
The female guest told her, and she moved toward it but had disappeared before the female guest’s husband saw this odd woman. The husband had been waiting at the main counter.
STILL HAUNTED?
Yes Indeed! Miss Lucy has chosen to stay in the rooms of the Olde Town Inn in Manassas that she loved while alive, perhaps waiting for her beloved to return, or perhaps simply choosing to stay in her favorite structure in this world after her demise.
For many years since the Civil War, Lucy has been active indeed, being playful with the Olde Town Inn’s guests and staff.
Virginia’s oldest paranormal investigation group, C.P. R.I: The Center for Paranormal Research & Investigation did some work here in 2000, and lists the Olde Town Inn as a haunted place on their website.
LOCATION
9403 Main Street,
Manassas, Virginia 20110
(703) 368-9191
The Olde Town Inn is located in the heart of old historic downtown Manassas on the corner of Center Street and Main Street.
Their website states:”Our Motel is a block from VRE and Amtrak train station, 18 miles from Dulles International Airport (IAD), 28 miles from Reagan National Airport (DCA) and 32 miles from Washington DC. VRE and Amtrak train are perfectly accessible to all Washington DC attractions.”
SOURCES INCLUDE
- Haunted Places: The National Directory
by Dennis William Hauck
Penguin Books – 2002 - potomaclocal.com, posted by Potomac Local, October 2, 2012 at 11:02 am
Story By Stephanie Tipple - reddit.com/r/Paranormal/comments
- virginiahauntedhouses.com/real-haunts/
- virginiaghosts.com/reports.php
- fairfaxunderground.com/
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manassas,_Virginia
Our Haunted Paranormal Stories are Written by Julie Carr
Our Photos are copyrighted by Tom Carr
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