NOVA
Sandy
February 22, 2012
Gadsby’s Tavern was established in 1785 and its accompanying hotel opened in 1792. The tavern in steeped in history. It played host to many of the power players of the revolution and our founding fathers, such as John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe.
The tavern is the location of a particularly mysterious occurrence that is the stuff of local legend. In 1816, a man and his wife sailed into Alexandria. The woman was very sick, and so her husband took her to Gadsby’s Tavern. They booked the room above the ballroom and called for medical attention. Though her doctor and his nurse worked hard to restore her to health, she did not recover. Before the woman passed away, she requested that everyone swear to keep her identity a secret. She was buried in St. Paul’s Cemetery, and even her headstone does not bear her name. It simply states, “In Memory of the Female Stranger, died October 14, 1816, age 23 years, 8 months.” It is told that her husband left the tavern quickly, leaving behind all the bills for the woman’s medical care, their room and board, and the cost of the woman’s burial. Though they were left with the husband’s debt, the people who knew the woman’s identity upheld her last wish.
There are reports of some ghostly activity at Gadsby’s Tavern. These occurrences are attributed to the unknown woman. Witnesses say they see the female stranger in the window upstairs. She holds a candle. Others report hearing footsteps that cannot be credited to a living person. The woman has also been seen carrying her candle in the ballroom and on the staircase.
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