THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The Chester House Inn in Chester, Arkansas (now known and restored as the Beard and Lady Inn), is heavily haunted by ghosts from its colorful history as an 1880s railroad hotel and former WWII-era brothel. Passersby and train riders frequently report seeing Ruby and Pearl, two spectral ladies of the night clad in vintage clothing, waving down at them from the second-floor windows. The property is also haunted by the heavy footsteps of Clarence, a guest who famously got heavily intoxicated at the formerly adjoining saloon and froze to death out on the balcony.
The 1887 hotel primarily served railroad passengers and workers until the late-twentieth century. Now a delightful bed and breakfast inn with an adjoining antiques store, employees and guests staying at the establishment have reported many strange instances of paranormal activity. The place is rumoured to have been a brothel in the past, and people passing by have reported seeing a pair of ghostly women in old-fashioned clothing waving at them from the second floor of the building. Locals have surmised that they are Pearl and Ruby, who were both former prostitutes when the place was a bordello between World War I and World War II. The other spook haunting the old edifice is a male presence known as Clarence, who froze to death on the balcony of Room 4. Disembodied footsteps supposedly belonging to him have been heard wandering through the building in the small hours, and new owners are always warned by departing owners to appease the spirit, or else face his wrath.