Colonial Inn, Concord

Located in Monument Square in the quaint New England Village of Concord, is the gracious Colonial Inn. Originally built in 1716, it was later used as a private residence for the Minot family. Capt. Minot was a soldier and physician during the Revolutionary War. Part of the structure was used to store arms and ammunition. At that time, the British attempted to steal and destroy the stored supplies. The first battle of the Revolutionary War took place at North Bridge on April 19, 1775. Dr. Timothy Minot attended to many wounded soldiers. In 1889, with the addition of two other buildings, the structure became a well known Inn. The Inn played an important part in history. The area was also the home of many famous characters of literature, such as Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau resided with his family at the Inn while attending Harvard from 1835-1837, before living on Walden Pond. Later, serving as a boarding house and hotel, it changed hands in 1988, and became what we know as the Colonial Inn in 1900. Many have enjoyed the fine hospitality of the Inn, including Frankin D. Roosevelt, P.T. Barnam, Shirley Temple, Elizabeth Taylor, and Jacqueline Kennedy... to name a few.

The M.A.P.S. Team had previously heard local legends of incidents which occurred at the Colonial Inn. In 1966, it was reported that a woman saw the grey mist of a man who walked towards the fireplace and faded away. In 1996, another guest saw a flash of light which lit up the room. He later had a dream of a man suffocating a woman. In 1994, a person fell ill and felt a vibration on the bed as he lay there resting. All these incidents took place in Room 24, which is located in the original part of the structure. The history of this grand Colonial Inn engulfed us as we made our way up the narrow winding stairway to our room....No 24. As we brought our luggage into our spacious room, we couldn't help but notice that it appeared as though there was an imprint on either side of the bed, as if someone had been sitting there. The team took many photos, set up motion cameras, performed numerous EVP sessions and used our EMF detectors. While laying on the bed, a team member felt the vibration of the bed under her feet. This was the same area where high EMF's were recorded throughout our stay. After checking out the room below us for the possibility of a ceiling fan, it was determined that there was no apparent reason for the bed to vibrate. After setting the motion camera on the backside of the bureau, we were surprised upon awakening to see that it had been moved to the very edge of the bureau, nearly falling off. Although the camera went off on many occasions, nothing was recorded. Our stay was all we had anticipated at the Colonial Inn and we found our visit to local cemeteries (Old Hill Cemetery, Main Street Burying Ground, and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery) to be most rewarding.