BARDSTOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — Any building that has been around long enough can probably be considered haunted.
No exact age qualifies, but close to 250 years likely puts the Talbott Tavern in Bardstown into that haunted category.
“Originally, people will come here for the bourbon; that’s what Bardstown is known, but they’ll always come back for the food or the ghosts,” Talbott Tavern office manager Deanna Kelley said.
The tavern first opened in 1779 and is now known as the country's oldest western stagecoach and the world's bourbon bar.
Names like Daniel Boone, Jesse James and Abraham Lincoln sit a top as prominent tavern guests.
It’s also become one of the more notable spots in the region for spirits to call home.
“We’ve actually had a few ghost tours come through here,” Kelley said.
“We get calls numerous times, especially during Halloween, of wanting to stay all night, rent out all the rooms, and set up their equipment in the hallways and whatnot to see if they can catch anything during the night.”
Countless stories have been collected over the years of people spending the night at the tavern and experiencing the paranormal.
Kelley was eager to share a few of them with us.
“We had a dinner guest; it was her 25th birthday. She had a large group. Her friend was seated on the opposite end of a large table. He’d got up to go to the bathroom. He had just ordered a soda. Without warning, the glass flew off the table and shattered against the wall. They later noticed the person sitting across from him had her watch stop at the moment the glass left the table.”
“We’ve had a young lady; she was 10 years old at the time in 1990. Her and her cousin decided to go upstairs to the Jesse James Room. When they got upstairs, the lights were off. They flipped the light switch, but the lights didn’t come on. Instead, a loud piano started playing. She said she ran faster than her legs ever carried her. There were no speakers at the time, and she still has no idea where the piano came from.”
“Actually, when I was a host, one of the couples had come downstairs and asked me if there was a piano player in the bar. I told them no, we didn’t have music that night. There’s no music; there was no piano in the bar. They said they kept hearing piano being played with little kids laughing.”
Kelley has been with Talbott Tavern on and off since 2006, so she is not exempt from experiencing the seemingly supernatural.
She recalled when she and her niece were staying in the infamous Room 2 of the tavern when she went through something she just couldn’t explain.
"I had went to the bathroom, and I had come back out. The front of my dress was dripping water,” Kelley said.
“It almost felt like someone scooped up the water with their hand and poured it on my dress, and it was dripping so much. I couldn’t explain it, I couldn’t replay it, but it was pretty cool.”
Stories like these have brought people from all over the world to check in at the tavern and hopefully get in touch with some of the folks that apparently never checked out.
“I think it’s great for the tavern because there’s so much history here. It makes you think what really happened here or when did this happen. I think it’s a really cool experience for everybody,” Kelley said.
The Talbott Tavern is located at 107 W Stephen Foster Ave in Bardstown.
If you want to learn more about the Tavern or book your stay, click here.
