Who’s Haunting Columbus? Colonel Prichard and the Scorned Lover
If you are on a ghost hunt for Columbus’ most notorious ghosts, you cannot afford to miss having a meal at the Elevator Restaurant on High Street. Head north out of downtown and look left. This restaurant is impossible to miss because of the huge clock that stands in front of it. For many years this restaurant was known as The Clock Restaurant because of that feature. Until its recent replacement, the clock out front was stuck at 10:05. Why was the clock left so? This is the legend . . .
Elevator Restaurant promotional photo
In the cold winter of 1909 one Colonel Prichard, a known womanizer and rather abusive man, was entering the restaurant (then known as the Bott Brothers Saloon) when one of his scorned lovers approached him and stabbed him to death there in the entranceway. According to this time honored tale, Colonel Prichard bled out on the cold hard floor and at 10:05, the moment of his death, the clock hands stopped. The woman ran out into the snow, only to freeze to death herself. She left only footprints.
According to many sources, Colonel Prichard and the Scorned Woman both haunt the Elevator Restaurant. Colonel Prichard appears as a floating ball of bright energy, while the Scorned Lover sometimes leaves footprints in the snow when no one has been there.
On a personal note, I must recommend you try the Elevator if you have the opportunity. On the occasions that I have had the chance to eat there the food and drinks have been very good, though the service has been just sufficent. I saw one of my favorite quotes there for the first time . . .
“I feel sorry for people who do not drink. When they get up, that’s the best they are going to feel all day.” ~Frank Sinatra
I’m not much of a drinker these days, but it still makes me laugh.
If you have the opportunity to dine at the Elevator, take a moment to ask your server about Colonel Prichard and his Scorned Lover. Who knows, he might have his own encounter to tell you about.
To read more about this tale~
Forgotten Ohio
Ohio Exploration Society
As always, if you do visit the Elevator, don’t drink and drive.
Columbus, Ohio, OH, hauntings, Colonel Prichard, Colonel Pritchard, Elevator Restaurant, Clock Restautant, Bott Brothers
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