History of Fort Loudon Inn

The main house at the Inn is stone and was built in the late 1790s. There was a log home built by Rowland Harris previously on the property. The half moons on the central stairway, the plastered molding, and the fireplace mantels are all displays of the craftsmanship of a colonial period home of the 1800s. The corner cupboard was built and installed by Harris in the early 1800s. History has the main house first used as a cattle drover inn owned by John Beaver. The rooms upstairs would be lined daily with fresh straw and the cattle drovers would use their saddles for pillows, as well as keeping them from thieves! The property was equipped with a blacksmith shop and a wagon repair shop.

Through the years the Inn has had many names. Mansion House, Laurel Hotel, Vance’s Inn, (as many locals still call it) and presently it is called the Fort Loudon Inn.

James Buchanan Resided at the Inn in 1840 prior to becoming the 15th President of the United States. He was born April 23rd, 1791 in Cove Gap near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.

A group of slaves in their passage of the Underground Railroad fought and killed 3 men that had found them in the Inn. The slaves got away but left a dead infant behind. The baker family who occupied the Inn at the time had to build boxes to bury the men and the little baby. It was during this time that the local folk talked about the haunting in the Inn since they would see a light at night up in the attic. After these events town folks would say that on a full moon night, the cry of a baby could be heard and the noises of one of the men whose head was cut off with a sword taken from Mr. Baker’s possessions, could be heard as he searched for his head!!

The most noted Innkeeper, Rosie Vance, who had the Inn from 1900-1946, made it a community-gathering place. She provided all you could eat chicken dinners on Sundays for $1.00. The locals say that people would come eat, walk around and play games then eat again, making a full day of it. As the fame of Rosie’s cooking spread, Chambersburg folks would come to the Inn for the day to play bridge and have dinner. Rosie expanded her dining area by taking down a log partition from the former house built in 1790 by Rowland Harris for his “Mansion House”. She then removed another wall that made three smaller rooms into the one large open area that still remains today as the Inn's common area. Rosie also built little cottages across the road from the Inn to house families from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas that would come to cool off in the mountain air and get away from the city heat.

Rosie was a petite lady. Under five feet!! Size certainly had nothing to do with her strong work ethic and determination. History has it that you would find her almost always with a bowl in her hand either cooking or mixing mortar, two of her favorite pastimes. The evidence of her mortar mixing can still be viewed either physically or by pictures at the Inn. Rosie, being of Swedish decent, wanted the Inn to mimic that of Swedish Inns and did not like the tall ceilings. She dotted mortar at the top of the walls in a maple nut branch pattern and painted the ceilings and the maple nut branch pattern creating a stunning affect, which created the illusion of a lower ceiling. If you look close enough you can still see the pattern in the large common area along the ceiling. It has been said that Rosie and a fellow worker, Joe Rosenberry, mixed the mortar and covered the main house with chicken wire and stucco. She also mixed, dyed and milk glazed mortar in cigar boxes making enough slate to cover the front room, living area and central hall. All that is left of this hard work is the hearth of the fireplace in the main common area. She had the first in-ground pool in Franklin County. She played a big part in seeing the hole dug and the concreting of the sides of the pool. Many older folks in Fort Loudon remember the thrill of coming to Vance’s Inn and cooling off in the swimming pool.

Judge and Mrs. Chauncey Depuy and his family purchased the Inn in 1946 and continued to run it as a summer resort inn for the city folks fighting the city heat. Ray Depuy recalled the beauty of the wisteria that grew and hung along the front of the house. Pictures of this can be seen hanging in the Inn.

Carlos Positano purchased the Inn in 1962. He did some major renovations, turning the rooms into smaller efficiency apartments.

Zach and Rose Group carried the efficiency apartment way of running the Inn when they purchased it from Carlos as did Jerry and Marie Traister who purchased the Inn in 1994 and developed a couple of Bed and Breakfast rooms along with the efficiencies.

Jerry and Marie Moved to Tennessee in June of 2006, selling the Inn to Dick and Dawn Gogin.

The Inn Stands stately in her glory of the past and present. All those that have been sheltered by her, look forward to her remaining a constant reminder of days gone by and looking upon her with visions of a glorious future.

There is a book in the lobby with more information on the history of Fort Loudon if you have any interest, as well as several historical photographs of the inn throughout these times.