James Potter was an aide-de-camp to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War and was a veteran of the French-and-Indian War as well. He served with distinction and when he retired from military life, Potter bought a large tract of land and settled it. He built a log house to handle the traffic that he hoped would come and named the building the Eutaw House after a local Indian tribe that lived further up the mountain. The village was called Potter’s Bank originally, but the little village Potter started was known among the teamsters, traders and trappers as Potter’s Mills because of the large saw and grist mills Potter had built in the area. The name stuck and today Potter’s Mills still bears that name.

     After James Potter died in 1789 his grandsons decided to construct a new building for the Eutaw House because the cabin was no longer big enough nor fancy enough. The present-day Eutaw House was constructed near the foundation of the old cabin.

     The old colonial inn served as a stop on the stage coach routes, and welcomed many a traveler for over one hundred years. Through different owners it changed names, but never it’s reputation for welcoming a traveler with good food and friendly service.

     In 1939 a Centre County native, Harrison Edgar Shawley bought the property. As he was rummaging around in the attic, he stumbled upon the old, original sign with the name of the Eutaw House and he decided that the sign and the name should once again be associated with the property. He restored both to their proper places.

     The most interesting and controversial story associated with the Eutaw House would be the story of Edgar Allen Poe. Shawley insisted that in 1839 Edgar Allen Poe spent a night or two at the Eutaw House on is way to Poe Valley just two miles up the road. He claimed that Poe’s luggage had been lost along the journey and Poe stayed for the night at the stage stop in Potter’s Mills while he waited for his luggage to catch up with him. The luggage was recovered in time and Poe went on to supposedly dispose of some family property in Poe Valley after a cousin’s death.

     Shawley, however, went even further and insisted that Poe actually fell in love with a mountain girl named Helena Hallferty Park, who is somehow represented by the name "Lenore" in the poem The Raven. Perhaps "Lenore" was a pseudonym or a nickname for the young Helen who broke Poe’s heart during his stay in Poe Valley. Shawley insisted that while Poe was disposing of family property he returned to the comfort of the Eutaw house and was staying there when he penned "The Raven" as a tribute to his unrequited love. The story claimed that after taking one of his solitary walks through the woods in Poe Valley, he stumbled upon a mountaintop called High Valley. The young Poe paused to watch as large black birds plunged and flew around an area called Ravens’ Knob. Ravens’ Knob was a nesting place for the birds. Poe was enchanted with the birds and their pained cries so like his own sorrow-filled heart. Here, the story goes, Poe wrote his famous poem in a rush of emotion.

     Shawley traced the tale to the days when a man by the name of John Coverly was the innkeeper at the Eutaw House. However, there are those who insist that Coverly was a storyteller and that there is no truth to the tales at all. There is evidence on both sides. Poe was married to his young cousin in 1839, and by all accounts his love for her was total. How then, could Poe have fallen instantly in love with another young woman? There are no hotel ledgers or legal documents to prove that Poe was ever in the area, but we do know that James Potter’s daughter Elizabeth marred a James Poe of Franklin County and that this same man was perhaps a distant relative of Edgar Allen Poe. It is also rumored that Poe carved his name on a table or a wall in his room. Today a rustic table in the hall of the second floor bears the scratched E.A.P.

     However, the current owner, Kathy, is quick to point out that anyone could have carved those initials there.  It does not take long to realize that the Eutaw House is very haunted. We were in the building only a few moments the night of our first investigation before the staff began to talk. The stories, both historical and anecdotal are legion.

     During the years when it was a rest stop on the stagecoach routes, not only businessmen and families were stopping there. It is said that a prison wagon laid over there one night. A prisoner was housed in a locked room in the attic for the night. Here the story seems to diverge. In one version the man tried to escape and was shot running away. He was carried back to the attic where he was laid once more upon his pallet and he died there. In the other version he hung himself in the night rather than continue on as a prisoner. Either way, oral history insists that a man died in the one room in the attic. During a visit there, Scott and I took a few shots and picked up a single orb in that room.

     Another traditional story dating from the early days of the Eutaw House is that the local Indians would come down from the mountain to raid the Eutaw House stables of horses. One night, during such a raid, one of the Indian men was captured and hung for horse theft. I spoke to a woman who had worked at the Eutaw House when the Shawleys owned it, and she told me that the staff would often congregate upon the second floor balcony beyond the ballroom after hours for a drink and to unwind after a hard night’s work. On many nights the staff would hear what sounded like the creaking of a rope in the large old tree at the corner of the property and the sound of something soft and heavy thudding against the tree if the wind was heavy. Though the staff occasionally looked for the source of the sound, there was none. They believed that it was the body of the hung Indian thudding against the tree as the rope creaked.

     Kathy said that the previous owners told her that every morning they would get up to find one of the dining room tables messed up as though three people were up in the night having a meal--but no one earthly had been indulging in midnight snacks!

     People have heard a little girl crying. Reports of the little girl, who appears to be about seven years old, have long been associated with this house. She has been seen on the main stairs, in the yard and inside the building in other spots.

     A woman in black is also seen. She has often appeared on the stairs alone or with the crying little girl on the second floor. The woman seems to be dressed in mourning clothing.

     Along with these two apparitions there seems to be yet one more specter in residence at the house. This figure is a man who is described as slim, with dark hair, a dark mustache, and a dark complexion. In fact, the man resembles Edgar Allen Poe. However, no one has ever said it was Poe. This man seems connected with the woman in black and the little girl who cries. He has been seen with them both outside and inside of the house.

     The current staff will tell stories of sighting the woman in black and hearing footsteps where no one walks. They talk about lights turning off and on by themselves on the second floor. In the room rumored to have been Poe’s, one of the staff insists that the light will turn itself on after dark.

     A waitress on the first floor in the Kiva Room had a very unnerving experience. The young lady brought in a large tray laden with food. She had set it upon a small folding serving table in order to serve the plates. While she was talking to one of the ladies at the table, the tray picked itself up, turned itself upside down and food flew all over the table. The young man who related this tale to us said that one of the guests began to cry because she couldn’t understand how this could have happened.

     However, there is nothing frightening at the Eutaw House. The staff is experienced, well mannered and knowledgeable. You’ll receive a good meal, a tasty drink and wonderful service. Kathy lives in the building herself, and she will be the first person to tell you that the ghosts in the Eutaw House are friendly.