Old Bernardsville Public Library

Built in 1710 as the Vealtown Tavern, this building hosted George Washington and his troops during the Revolutionary War. It later served as Bernardsville's public library and is one of the oldest structures in the area.

The Old Bernardsville Public Library, built in 1710 as the Vealtown Tavern, served as a vital stopping point for Continental Army troops during the Revolutionary War. General George Washington and his forces frequently stayed here while traveling between Pluckemin and Morristown during the brutal 1779-1780 winter encampment. The tavern was owned and operated by Captain John Parker of the 1st Battalion of Somerset County, who ran the establishment with his daughter Phyllis.

The haunting's origins trace to January 1777, when General Anthony "Mad" Wayne and his staff stopped at the tavern for the night. By morning, Wayne discovered his courier pouch containing classified military documents had been stolen. The only guest unaccounted for was Dr. Byram, a dashing physician who had been staying at the tavern and courting Phyllis Parker. When Wayne described the doctor, he was immediately recognized as Aaron Wilde, a notorious Tory spy. Soldiers tracked Byram down and found the stolen documents on his person. He was tried, convicted, and hanged on the spot.

Captain Parker retrieved his son-in-law's body, placing it in a wooden crate without revealing the contents to Phyllis. That night, awakened by soldiers delivering the box, Phyllis frantically tore open the crate with a hatchet. Upon discovering her lover's corpse, she let out what witnesses described as "a horrendous, night-shattering scream" as her mind snapped from grief. She reportedly spent years afterward wandering the tavern, sobbing and wailing. No historical records document what became of Phyllis after that night—some sources suggest she died there, possibly by suicide.

The first documented paranormal reports began in 1875 when the building was being used as a farmhouse. Residents reported hearing footsteps, clothes rustling, and windows mysteriously opening and closing. In January 1877, a woman home alone with her infant heard what sounded like several men carrying a heavy object, followed by wooden panels being ripped apart and pounded—the exact sounds of a crate being opened. Then came a woman's anguished screams and mournful sobs from the former dining room.

During the 1940s and 1950s, almost every member of the Bernardsville police force encountered Phyllis during their midnight patrols. In 1950, newly recruited Officer John Maddaluna (who would later become Police Chief) was checking the locked library doors during his night shift when he shined his flashlight inside and twice spotted a female figure in a long, white floor-length dress. His training sergeant told him not to worry—it was only the ghost, which he had already seen many times. Officers made spotting the apparition part of their regular routine.

After the library underwent renovations in 1974, employees began seeing Phyllis's apparition moving through the front rooms. One employee witnessed a man dressed in eighteenth-century clothing through a window—the building was empty when checked. Library staff member Martha Hamill reported hearing strange voices murmuring while alone and locked inside. Maria Mandala heard a woman's voice humming or singing on another occasion, and once noticed all phone lines showing "in use" with no one on the other end.

In 1987, local paranormal investigators held a seance at the library, the video of which can still be viewed in the local history room. Notable ghost hunters who investigated the building over the years include Ed and Lorraine Warren and Norm Gauthier. On April 7, 1995, paranormal investigator Randolph Liebeck led a team of police officers and researchers in a formal investigation. While they documented one significant camera failure, they found no corroborating evidence for the haunting.

Phyllis was so active that the library staff issued her an official library card—though she never checked out any books. The last known sighting occurred in November 1989, when a three-year-old boy in the reading room said hello to "the lady" with dark hair in a long white dress. Neither his mother nor the librarian could see her.

The library moved to a new building at 1 Anderson Hill Road in 2000, leaving the haunted structure behind. The old building at 2 Morristown Road is now privately owned, and Meli Melo, a shop that occupied part of the building, reportedly still received questions about the lovelorn Phyllis. Local History Room volunteer Eileen Luz Johnston wrote a 46-page booklet documenting Phyllis's story, available at the new library. Despite extensive research, no portraits of Phyllis have ever been found—and some historians note there is no definitive proof she even existed.