Formerly: The Ferry House · Fountain House · Delaware House
Bristol, Pennsylvania · Founded 1681 · Building: 1765
A Bristol riverfront inn with a Ferry House lineage to 1681 and a 1765 building that served as Colonel John Cadwalader's Revolutionary War headquarters.
King George II Inn stands at 102 Radcliffe Street in Bristol, where local historical sources trace a required ferry-house public house to Samuel Clift's 1681 land grant. The building visible today replaced the original Ferry House in 1765. During the December 1776 Delaware campaign, it served as headquarters for Colonel John Cadwalader and his force in Bristol.
Bristol historical material says Samuel Clift received a land grant requiring him to maintain a ferry to Burlington, New Jersey, and a public house later known as the Ferry House.
Source: Bristol Cultural & Historical Foundation, "Bristol History"
Charles Bessonett built the George the Second Hotel on the site of the earlier Ferry House; Bristol tourism material identifies the 1765 structure as the building visible today.
Source: James A. Greer, A History of Bristol Borough in the County of Bucks; Tour Bristol Borough, "King George II Inn"
The inn served as Colonel John Cadwalader's headquarters while his troops were stationed in Bristol during preparations to assist George Washington's Trenton campaign.
Source: Bristol Cultural & Historical Foundation, "Bristol History"; Tour Bristol Borough, "King George II Inn"
Robert Strasser and Bruce Lowe took over operations from MaryJo and Lenny Demenczuk, who were reported to have operated the business for 33 years.
Source: LevittownNow, "Historic King George II Inn Under New Ownership" (February 13, 2015)
Reporting identified Fabian Quiros, Bruce Lowe, and Robert Strasser as the inn's owners.
Source: Pennsylvania Independent, "Drinking with ghosts: The life of Bristol's 343-year-old King George II Inn" (September 18, 2024)
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Bristol historical and tourism sources describe the inn as the oldest or among the oldest continuously operating inns in the country, based on the Ferry House lineage beginning in 1681. The present building dates from 1765, and the sources reviewed do not supply a complete record of uninterrupted lodging and business operations sufficient to establish the national title over older or competing claimants.
Bristol historical material says Washington is reputed to have slept at the inn as a young man while traveling to Connecticut for a military commission. The reviewed material does not identify a contemporaneous diary, letter, or lodging record establishing the stay.
Bristol historical and tourism sources specifically identify the inn as Cadwalader's Bristol headquarters while his forces prepared to assist Washington's Trenton operation. Cadwalader was a colonel during this campaign, not yet a general.
Modern paranormal-tourism sources and recent reporting document a haunted reputation, including stories of a man in formal attire and unexplained movement of objects. Those accounts establish that the stories are told, not that paranormal activity occurred.
Everything below has been reported by two or more independent sources — this is an informational record of what's said about this place, not a verified account of paranormal activity. Still Open America doesn't certify hauntings as real.
The inn's signature legend is a full-bodied apparition of a man in a top hat, tails, and nineteenth-century formal clothing. Witnesses say he appears upstairs or moves through the inn as if dancing before vanishing.
Guests, staff, and paranormal-tour listings report doors opening, closing, or slamming without an apparent person nearby. The accounts include interior doors and a swinging restaurant door moving on their own.
Multiple accounts describe silverware, chairs, lamps, paintings, and bottles moving or falling without an apparent cause. One owner recounted seeing empty liquor bottles fly from the end of the bar and break against a wall during closing.
Visitors and owners have reported the sound of babies crying on the upper floors, usually described as the third or fourth floor. The reports are generally presented as an unexplained sound rather than being tied to a named historical person.
Some stories report seeing uniformed soldiers associated with the Revolutionary War moving through the building. These accounts are often linked to the inn's documented use as Colonel John Cadwalader's headquarters during the December 1776 campaign.
The building at 102 Radcliffe Street was built in 1681.
The Ferry House lineage is traced to 1681, but Bristol historical and tourism sources identify the present visible structure as a 1765 replacement for the earlier ferry house.
Source: Tour Bristol Borough, "King George II Inn"; James A. Greer, A History of Bristol Borough in the County of Bucks
The inn's claimed 1681 date proves uninterrupted operation as the same inn since that year.
The 1681 date identifies the Ferry House public-house lineage at the site. The sources reviewed do not establish every intervening period of lodging service, ownership, and operating identity required to prove uninterrupted operation as the same inn.
Source: Bristol Cultural & Historical Foundation, "Bristol History"; Tour Bristol Borough, "King George II Inn"
George Washington's stay at the inn is established history.
Bristol historical material describes Washington's stay as a reputation or tradition and does not provide a contemporaneous record establishing it.
Source: Bristol Cultural & Historical Foundation, "Bristol History"
The inn’s survival rests on a long riverfront hospitality tradition tied first to ferry traffic and later to Bristol’s commercial, resort, and dining life. Its modern operators pair that local history with an active restaurant, but its most sweeping claims—especially uninterrupted national-oldest status—need more documentary proof than current promotional and local-history accounts provide.
King George II Inn traces its site history to Samuel Clift's 1681 Ferry House, a public house connected to the Bristol-to-Burlington ferry. The present building was constructed in 1765 on the earlier Ferry House site. In December 1776, it served as Colonel John Cadwalader's headquarters during the Delaware campaign.
King George II Inn is widely described as one of Pennsylvania's oldest continuously operating inns because its Ferry House lineage dates to 1681. The title is not conclusively established by the evidence reviewed: the current structure dates to 1765, and a complete record of uninterrupted lodging and business operations has not been identified.
Bristol historical tradition says a young George Washington slept at the Ferry House while traveling to Connecticut to seek a military commission. The account is not supported in the reviewed sources by a contemporary diary, letter, or lodging record, so it should be treated as local tradition rather than confirmed fact.
This review did not establish the earliest dated published report that King George II Inn was haunted. Modern paranormal-tourism sources and a 2024 news feature document the current stories of a top-hatted figure and unexplained activity, but they do not identify when the reputation first entered print.
102 Radcliffe St, Bristol, PA 19007
215-788-5536
The current operation is a riverfront restaurant; its official site lists Wednesday–Sunday hours. This review did not verify that overnight guest rooms are currently offered.