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The Buxton Inn in Granville, Ohio was built in 1812 by Orrin Granger, founder of Granville. He had originally lived in Granville, Massachusetts. (I don't know if the town in Massachusetts was named after him, too, but if it is, that hardly seems fair.) The building was originally used as a post office and stagecoach stop, and it is currently Ohio's oldest operating inn still using its original building. Major Buxton operated it as an inn from 1865-1905, and that is for whom it is named.
Orrin Granger's ghost was the earliest documented sighting. Sometime in the late 1920's, a son of one of the owner's encountered Orrin in the kitchen and caught him in the act of chowing down on the last piece of pie. I've read this account in several books and on several websites, and each time I'm exceedingly incredulous and exceedingly amused. Orrin's ghost has been seen many times since then, especially sitting by the fire. He is almost always described as a gray-haired man wearing knee britches.
Major Buxton's ghost is described as being a shadowy figure. He has been seen all throughout the house, but he seems to be seen most in the dining room. He is easily identified by the guests because a sizable portrait of him hangs in the inn.
In 1972 Orville and Audrey Orr, who began to restore the building, purchased the inn. (Orville Orr? Sheesh….) This seems to have stirred the spirit of yet another former owner, Ethel "Bonnie" Bounell. She was the innkeeper from 1934 to 1960. The workers were startled one day by a ghostly woman in blue, who then began appearing regularly at 6:00 p.m. After the renovated inn opened in 1974, and right up to today, she has been seen in numerous places. She has been encountered on the upper balcony, in the ballroom, and on the stairway. The best places to see her, though, seem to be room 7 and room 9, which is the room in which she died. She startled a cook in the late 1970's by occupying the bed in room 7 when he went to go to sleep. In 1991 she appeared in room 9. A nurse was awakened to find a woman sitting on the foot of her bed. The woman asked, "Are you sleeping well?" The nurse replied the only way anyone could, "No, I'm not!" The woman then vanished. The nurse approached the staff about the incident, and when showed a photo, she identified the woman as Bonnie Bounell.
The inn also has the typical markings of a haunted building: footsteps, doors and windows that open by themselves, the feelings of unseen presences. Guests have also seen disembodied hands warming themselves by the fire.
Buxton Inn
313 East Broadway
Granville, Ohio 43023
740-587-0001
If you have had an experience in the Buxton Inn, please e-mail me.
