CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – As Halloween night approaches, former Letterkenny Army Depot commanders and ghost hunters reveal centuries of paranormal activity at the Historic James Finley House located on the depot.
Also known as “The Commander’s Quarters,” the oldest house in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, dates to the late 1700’s and is steeped in history, making ghostly encounters almost inevitable.
One of our former commanders shared his family and friend’s experiences.
“Be careful the house is haunted,” this commander was warned on his move-in day. He brushed it off, having heard such tales before. However, that very night, his wife saw a ghostly figure of an older woman without legs, with her hair tied back, floating in front of her. The wife told him that she felt at peace and knew the ghostly figure was friendly.
On Christmas Eve, about a year later, his family hosted friends over for dinner. Just as the commander was about to give a house tour, one friend entered the family room and emerged seconds later, pale white and trembling. “I just saw a ghost,” the friend told him, too frightened to leave their side for the rest of the night. He never once returned for another visit. The commander revealed, “We never told our guests the house was haunted, so he saw it on his own.”
Another previous commander recounted, “I was told by multiple people, from members of the LEAD workforce and from the local community, that it was common knowledge that the quarters were haunted and there were stories of individuals seeing ghostly figures when they were either staying or visiting the quarters for events hosted there.”
One night a senior LEAD employee who was helping host a social event at the Finley House told this commander what they just experienced. He explained that once the crowd departed from the party, the employee walked back into the kitchen to begin cleaning up, but before they got the chance to turn on the light, they saw the silhouette of a female in a dress who appeared to be cleaning up. The employee stated the ghostly figure didn’t speak and appeared to be a friendly ghost.
In fact, the former commander shared many years ago the Finley House had maid quarters directly above the kitchen, leading to the belief a maid's spirit still looks after the house.
Several other residents told him similar stories of a female silhouette working in the kitchen. They too would hear noises coming from the kitchen at night and kitchen equipment would be moved from its resting place to another area of the kitchen as the families slept.
In 2021, The Ghost Pit, Ghost Hunters Brian Phillip and his team, visited The Finley House and caught figures on video and voices through a spirit box, a small handheld device used to communicate with spirits.
While investigating, Brian and his team, accompanied by previous LEAD employees, encountered a chilling presence on a structured light sensor camera in several rooms.
In the upstairs bathroom, the camera captured a figure, believed to be a young girl, pointing toward the hallway door.
On the first floor, they caught a fleeting glimpse of a figure. In one of the main rooms downstairs, they recorded a video of a spectral entity attempting to interact with them. When they asked the spirit to touch an overhead light, the light flickered in response.
As they continued their investigating, each person distinctly heard the eerie sound of a little girl humming just outside the room. In another spine-tingling incident, when a former LEAD employee tried to leave the room, the spirit box picked up on a ghostly voice saying “wait” twice.
The Historic James Finley House on LEAD is still used to this day to host current depot commander socials and public events.
If you would like to tour the house, contact andrew.s.newman.civ@army.mil.
Social Sharing