Tales from the Taproom: The Spectral Legacy of Shank’s Tavern

Long before it was a quiet riverside town, Marietta was a bustling 18th-century trading hub. By the early 1700s, it had emerged as an Indigenous and colonial frontier crossroads, strategically located along the wide, slow-moving waters of the Susquehanna. In 1736, James Anderson established a vital ferry service here—Anderson’s Ferry—which helped settlers, traders, and travelers cross the river and fed the town’s early growth.

As for the name Marietta, its origins remain as elusive as the fog that rolls in from the river on autumn mornings. Some say it was a blend of names—perhaps Mary and Henrietta, the wives of early settlers. Others whisper it was named for Anderson’s daughters, Mary and Etta. Still others believe it honored three women named Mary, whose contributions shaped the town’s foundation. Whatever its true origin, the name has persisted for centuries, much like the town itself—a place that never quite shed its frontier spirit.

By the early 1800s, Marietta was alive with canal traffic, riverboats, and the clang of pig iron furnaces. The air was thick with smoke, ale, and opportunity. It was here, in 1814, that retired riverboat captain James Stackhouse opened a tavern on the corner of South Waterford and West Front streets. He called it The Compass and the Square—a nod, perhaps, to navigation and Masonic symbolism, or simply to a life once spent steering the river’s winding path.

That tavern—though now known by a different name—still stands.

The Tavern That Time Didn’t Forget

Today, it’s known as Shank’s Tavern. And it holds the unique honor of being the oldest continuously operated bar in all of Lancaster County and one of the oldest in the commonwealth.

Exterior view of Shank's Tavern, a historic brick building with an entrance featuring wooden doors and a sign indicating it is Lancaster County's oldest tavern, established in 1814.
Main entrance to Shank’s Tavern.

Through the decades, the tavern has worn many names: The Compass and the Square, Hauer House, Maulick’s, and eventually—when John and Kathryn Shank purchased the place just before the end of Prohibition—it became Shank’s Tavern.

John Shank bought it in 1930 from Ernest Maulick, a German brewer. During the dry days of Prohibition, the tavern kept its spirits flowing by operating as a speakeasy. According to longtime owner Bob Shank, revenuers never posed much of a threat. Word always spread ahead of their arrival, and the illicit booze was quietly moved next door until the coast was clear.

While history didn’t leave any presidential visits or famous speeches in its wake, Shank’s became the tavern for everyone else. Canal workers, furnace men, soldiers from nearby bases, Armstrong employees, and riverfolk alike found a cold beer and warm welcome within its walls. When Marietta had 19 bars, Shank’s was just another watering hole. The difference? It never closed.

Through floods, the Depression, wars, and changing trends, Shank’s endured. The original tile floors, fireplace, and wainscoting still remain. So too does its lived-in atmosphere—one part river-town charm, one part timeless neighborhood gathering place.

And then, of course, there are the ghosts.

The Lady in Black

Spend enough time in Shank’s Tavern, and someone will tell you about her—the Lady in Black.

She’s been seen standing in the upstairs window, gazing down at the street. Others report her hovering at the top of the stairs or lingering near the ladies’ room. The working theory? She’s the ghost of Barb Hauer, who ran the tavern between 1865 and 1885, decades before the Shank family took over.

A shadowy figure in a long black dress stands at the top of a dimly lit staircase, exuding an eerie presence typical of ghost stories.

“She was a strong-willed woman,” Bob Shank says, “and it was a rough and tumble time in Marietta. For a woman to run a bar back then…that’s no small thing.”

Ghost hunters have investigated the tavern multiple times. Each time, they ask the same thing: Who is the woman in the black dress? No one ever sees her arrive. She’s just there—watching.

And she’s not alone.

Sunday Night Terrors

Some of the strangest experiences happened upstairs, in the old hotel portion of the building that’s now used for apartments. Bob and his brother grew up there. Sundays, when the bar was closed and everything was quiet, were the worst.

“We’d hear the cigarette machine go off… dimes dropping into the payphone… people talking,” Bob recalls. “But the place was empty.”

One night, the silence was shattered by three heavy knocks on their bedroom door. When the boys looked beneath it, no feet or shadows were visible. Their mother checked—doors locked, no one there. But the moment she returned to her room, something slammed against the boys’ door so violently it split the wood and sent coat hangers flying across the room.

A dimly lit hallway with a partially open door revealing a soft glow, and several wire hangers scattered on the wooden floor.

There were other tales, too. One neighbor, Jack Fry, had a ghostly encounter so terrifying it kept him from entering the bar for 35 years. He described seeing two headless, floating apparitions enter through the door. As they passed through, the katydids outside went silent. The world held its breath. Then the spirits retreated, and the night sounds returned all at once. Fry never forgot it. He even wrote it down.

Echoes from the Taproom

Other stories include phantom laughter from the stairwell, heavy footsteps in the night, and ghostly hands taking hold of passing pedestrians. One patron swore she felt someone clasp her hand as she walked her dog past the bar, though no one else was there.

Bartenders have seen half-bodied figures in the kitchen. Doors open and slam without warning. Booming noises echo from nowhere. And yet, despite these hauntings—or maybe because of them—Shank’s Tavern endures.

Like the river beside it, the tavern flows on—sometimes calm, sometimes strange, but always moving through history.

Marietta may never become a sprawling city. It’s hemmed in by the river, the cliffs of Chickies Rock, and the rails and roads that frame its modest growth. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe places like Shank’s Tavern only survive in towns that resist time, where stories still get told face-to-face over a pint, and the past lingers a little longer.

So next time you find yourself walking the streets of Marietta on a quiet night, glance up at the second-story window of the tavern on the corner of Waterford and Front.

You might just see her watching.

Illustration of Shank's Tavern in Marietta, Pennsylvania, featuring a ghostly figure in the upstairs window, with signs indicating it as Lancaster County's oldest tavern, established in 1814.

Planning Your Visit

Shank’s Tavern is open year-round, at 36 S Waterford Ave, Marietta, PA 17547, offering both indoor and outdoor seating with a welcoming riverside vibe. Check their hours online at shankstavern.com before visiting.

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Read more stories like this in my first full-length book, Uncharted Lancaster’s Ghosts, Monsters, and Tales of Adventure. This 283-page book is packed with 64 unforgettable stories, all set right here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

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