The former Sheafe Street Inn was a 19th century townhouse located at 3 Sheafe Street, at the corner of Penhallow Street, just steps away from the very heart of Portsmouth. This building has been an inn or tavern since its beginning and has many tales attached to it.

Many years ago, sailors walking past the building would sometimes find themselves thrown to the sidewalk as if someone had jumped on them from the second or third floor window of the inn. Others reported that a lady who owned the building had her bedroom on the first floor where the small breakfast room is now. One night she came home, entered her chamber, sat on the edge of her bed an proceeded to undress. As she sat there she "felt someone or something" push her off the bed onto the floor! She quickly got up and rushed out of the inn, locking the door behind her, and stayed overnight at a neighbor's house. The next morning, she and the neighbor went back into the inn and searched it from top to bottom, but found no one there."

Penhallow Street was once called Ark Street. One summer night, a young gentleman who had visited his intended wife was walking across the street from the Sheafe Street Inn. He was startled by a low whistle and looked back to find a large man in a huntsman's dress followed by a troop of twenty to thirty dogs. A horseman's equestrian gear was later found in a closet wall. This spirit reportedly returned to the inn years later dressed as a horseman. Five witnesses attested to this event.

The inn saw yet another spooky happening on April 6, 1914, when at the age of 75, a very famous carver of American Eagles by the name of John Haley Bellamy died in the building while living with his cousin, Mr. and Mrs. George A. Mudge. Throughout the past fifteen years, various people who have rented rooms at the inn and brought any alcoholic beverages would find the bottles smashed on returning to their rooms. In addition, people who leave a window open will often find it closed when returning to the room.

More recently, the cooks who work in the bakery on the first floor of this building have sensed someone in the kitchen with them. Tool are found out of place in the morning. When the baker turns away, every one of the utensils is neatly back on the shelves ... in seconds.

SOURCE: Norm Gauthier; Guide To More New Hampshire Haunted Places You Can Visit!, Volume 2, 1992, pps.33-34.

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