| The Yankee Pedlar Inn- Torrington, CT Based at the foot of the Berkshire Hills in the town of Torrington sits the historical Yankee Pedlar Inn. The beautiful Yankee Pedlar Inn where you are invited to stop in and visit the tavern with its crackling fireplace and oak hewn beams. View the lobby which shares some of the Inns history as well as some of the original furniture. The 60 rooms available at the Inn are furnished with Hitchcock furniture, the walls are hand stenciled, and the atmosphere brings you back to turn of the century. The History The Yankee Pedlar Inn was built by Frank Conley and opened as Conley's Inn on July 28, 1891. Frank Conley and his wife Alice dreamed of an Inn that would provide elegance and comfort as the big city hotels did. In November 1890, Conley bought a 100' by 214' lot on the corner of Main Street and Maiden Lane for the cost of $8000.00. There dream had started. The Inn was built with marble floors in a black and white diagonal mosaic, the spiral staircase and rooms were carpeted, and there were pictures on every wall. The rooms were well furnished, each had a two-light chandelier and hot water. $40,000 later Frank's dream was accomplished. With the help of his wife Alice (who was a great cook and manager) a successful business was started. The Conley’s ran the establishment until their deaths in 1910. Pre-investigation May 12, 2006 The Northwest Connecticut Paranormal Society contacted the Yankee Pedlar manager for an interview. The manager seemed excited and a date was set for 5/12/06. Four members of N.W.C.P.S. visited the Inn and were welcomed with smiles from all the staff. Upon interviewing the general manager she told us of experiences staff and guests have had. She said the night clerk had experienced many times a black mist like formation walking through the lobby around 1am. He also has experienced knocking on his office door at different times of the night, when opened nobody was to be found. She told us of the antique rocking chair that was owned by Mrs. Conley now displayed in the lobby, that rocks by itself. She then introduced us to her head housekeeper. The housekeeper stated she has worked in the Inn for over four years, in that time she has experienced many seemingly paranormal things. She told us about room 353 (where Mrs. Conley died) now used for storage. The room has upset guests with strong perfume odors, guests asked for room changes on occasion due to unknown reasons, (these complaints are actually documented in a log book). Room 295 is also another spot where guests have experienced perfume smells, and strange happenings. She reported one guest was lying on the bed when he felt someone climb in bed with him, he rolled over to see if it was his wife and she was in the bathroom. She has seen a figure of a lady that she says is Mrs. Conley, she knows this from her pictures hung in the Inn. She says she cannot keep staff very long either due to the strange happenings. When we did a walk through we were pleased to see how well the Inn was kept original. The tavern area gives you the feeling of stepping back 100 years. At the tavern area we found the original phone, wooden with a crank on the side. I asked the manager if that was a real phone. She said “yes, Mr. Conley still uses it”. Reports of a grey haired gentleman dressed in a old black suit has been spotted using the phone many times when people have entered the room. Our team did not experience anything uncomfortable until we entered the basement. There we were hit with the feeling of being weighed down, I myself was dizzy and seemed to have cement shoes, I didn't’t feel too comfortable there. The housekeeper told us there was a black figure down there, she saw it one night while getting a vacuum. She said out of the corner of her eye she saw something, she looked and the black figure approached her, she ran for the stairs and up to the bathroom to get away. She said while closing the door there was a forcible pressure holding it open. She was wearing a bracelet with a crucifix on it and it was tugged on as if something wanted it off her arm. She finally got the door closed and yelled for help as the lights went dead. We wrapped up the interview with a thank you to all and set a date to investigate May 31st, 2006. Mandi was able to track down two others who worked as cleaners in the past at the Pedlar and they too had stories to tell, from doors opening and strange feelings. The Investigation May 31, 2006 The team of John, Jayme, Maria, Mandi met at the Pedlar lobby at 10:30 pm. We first set up a nightvision camcorder in the bar area and left it. We then divided into 2 groups. Jayme & John went to room 353 with Camcorders set up with infrared boosters, digital recorder, and 2 helium balloons (to check for drafts). Mandi, Maria and a staff person headed to the basement to do a sweep with dowsing rods, EMF detector, and voice recorder. While in room 353 we experienced nothing. It was hot and humid from lack of air conditioning. After 30 minutes we decided maybe the girls could get a response better there and paged them on the walkie-talkies. They told us they were unsuccessful in the basement on obtaining any kind of activity. The two girls and Jayme stayed in the room while I visited the ballroom. Upon entering I noticed a strong sweet floral smell, as I tried to figure out where the smell was coming from. I asked the night clerk and he said that nothing was done to that area as in cleaning or shampooing recently, I myself got down to smell the floor. I then went to the basement laundry room where on our initial visit we experienced some dizziness, and rundown feelings, this visit I felt nothing. We did debunk the cleaning woman’s story of the door being forcefully held open, we noticed the door had a hydraulic like piston which resists closing the door fast, then when almost closed to releases pressure. Due to two hundred years of dust that had collected in the basement digital pics and camcorders were not acceptable. We did get the basic dust orbs but nothing more. Maria, and Mandi then set up in room 295 and there experienced nothing out of the ordinary. In the early hours of the morning we decided to pack it in. We thanked the hospitable night clerk Luke and headed home. Findings Our team reviewed hours and hours of video footage and digital voice recordings and came up with nothing. Aside from the floral smell which could have been from cleaning solutions, the anomaly video (on our "contact us" page), and a few strange pics we found no paranormal activity. We debunked the basement door, and noticed the lighting was very poor in the basement, shadows could be mistaken for black figures. As for the reported sightings of Mr. and Mrs. Conley and the small girl, we have no answers. We were unable to find any results of why a small girl would be there either. I’d like to thank the staff who were just great people to work with, and also mention that if you’re ever in the area of Torrington I strongly recommend stopping by The Yankee Pedlar. It is a beautiful place to visit, and holds many interesting pieces of history. Step through the door to an environment that awakens your senses sending you back in time. Respectfully submitted, John Z. |
A strange pic our team got in the attic
NWCPS
Unusual Orb found in basement
