This home in Spartanburg was built as a lodge and tavern around 1808 by Anthony Foster. The property was a stop on a well-traveled stagecoach route, and noted guests include former United States Senator and Vice President, John C. Calhoun, as well as Bishop Francis Asbury, who helped establish Methodism in the South.
Construction on the tavern began in 1801; due to the craftsmanship of the structure, it took Foster seven years to complete the project. Handmade bricks between 18 and 14 inches thick comprise the home’s exterior, including the pair of twin chimneys.
In 1825, well after Foster’s Tavern had been established, John Glenn purchased 500 acres of neighboring property, including a mineral spring. Glenn subsequently built an inn in 1836. Visitors traveled to his new resort, called Glenn Springs, to experience the spring’s “healing powers,” as touted by the owner. Foster’s Tavern was the last stop on the stagecoach route before Glenn Springs.
The inn at Glenn Springs was later replaced with a grand hotel which served some of the most affluent guests in South Carolina. Yet Foster’s Tavern remained in business throughout the early heyday of the adjacent resort town. The stately columns and second story balcony were added to the structure in 1845.
The home is now a private residence and has remained in the same family since 1922. A family cemetery rests on the property.
Foster’s Tavern is listed in the National Register:
Located at the intersection of the old Pickneyville and Georgia roads, a well-traveled stage route, Foster’s Tavern has been a historic and architecturally unique upcountry landmark for more than 150 years. Not only is it an imposing reminder of stagecoach days, but its association with such nationally prominent leaders such as John C. Calhoun and Bishop Francis Asbury also add to its historic significance. The southwest corner room on the tavern’s second floor is traditionally called the John C. Calhoun Room; other guests always moved out when Calhoun stopped here on his travels between Columbia and Fort Hill. In an 1810 diary, Bishop Asbury, who founded Methodism in South Carolina, mentions stopping at Foster’s Tavern. The tavern was built by Anthony Foster and appears on the Robert Mills atlas of 1825. Begun about 1801, this painstakingly crafted mansion took seven years or more to complete. It is constructed of bricks handmade in the area and features “tied” chimneys at each end of a gable roof and handcarved woodwork including two rare bowed mantels. The entrance portico was added in 1845 and the porches about 1915.
Reflections on Foster’s Tavern
Contributor Ann Helms shares, “Gary Poole has written about the tavern’s haunted history and describes the tale of an unknown traveler who hung himself in one of the rooms, and whose horse disappeared from a locked stable. His grave is marked by a blank
stone in the corner of the cemetery.”
I spent many summers and holidays in this house with my Grandmother Ruff.
In 1971, on our way back to Ohio from Florida, my college roommate (who was related to the owners) and another friend stopped to visit his relatives who lived in the house. I don’t remember everything about our overnight stay, but we each had a room with a bed where we slept after a fine meal of Cornish Hen which I had never had before. I think they told us not to worry if we heard noises. I do remember them telling us about the haunting and a girl seen in the upstairs window and about a soldier who had a dream of the house in Viet Nam and when he got back to the US, came to find the house from his dream. My friends might remember more, we were 19 at the time. I do remember a large pecan tree in the backyard. I had never seen one of those before. I don’t recall much about the graves. The next day we piled in the VW bug and headed off to Ohio.
I attended E.P. Todd / cooperative school from 1974 to 1979. Is there any history on the old cooperative school? I was scared to death of that old house, but it was so close to the school that it seemed like part of it.
The Fosters have spread far and wide. We are here in Texas and Oklahoma. Found out a while back we are related to this Foster. Hope I can make it there one day soon.
I would love to investigate this beautiful home if I could get permission, my team name is Spirit Movers Paranormal. I have lived here my whole life and love the rich history it holds. Thank you for writing about this.
Hello Teresa, unfortunately we cannot grant permission but hopefully you’ll be able to touch base with the owner and they could better answer your questions about that. Good luck!
Is this house really haunted?
Most stories are relative and based around folklore and fun more than fact. It certainly could be but it is not really provable.
Can you take a tour of this house and the cemetery?
The house is a private residence but if you contact the owner they may be open to arranging a tour. We do not have their contact information but tax records may be helpful in locating it. Hope this helps.
I just read the history of the house, and it was fascinating. I went to school across the street at Cooperative/ E P Todd Elementary in the 70’s, and I remember it well. One of my classmates was a Ruff, and it was referred to as the Ruff House. We all knew the story of the man who hung himself on the second floor. Amazing to find out that was actually true!
When I took my piano lessons from Mrs. Ruff, both streets that are four lanes now were only one lane each way. The elementary school was across the street where the drug store is now. That’s were our piano recitals were held.
Oh, and a lot of our ancestors are buried in the cemetery behind the house. I believe Anthony Foster is buried there as well.
Anthony Foster was my Great Great Great Great Grandpa. Very interesting information. Thank you so much for sharing.
My great-grandmother, Charlotte Thomasine Foster Yarborough, lived in this house. Many of my ancestors are buried in the family cemetery near the house. Several years ago I visited the house and cemetery with other family members. Such a beautiful place!
What a fascinating connection! We have to agree with you that it is an absolutely beautiful house!
That’s the house with the haunted piano. They got it in, but could not get it out 🙂
This is my family’s house. My grandpa’s sister used to live there. She’s buried in the cemetery behind it. People says it’s haunted, lol.
I have always wanted to go inside that place. When my kids were small, they said they saw something white standing in window upstairs! Every time I go by that house it always attracts my attention! The kids always said there was a ghost in that window!
I drive by this house everyday. I would love to one day take a look inside. I’m sure it’s beautiful.
My mother, Kathryn Barnett, and Ada Lancaster Ruff were first cousins. I also took piano lessons from Ada Ruff. My mother told me a lot of ghost stories about this house that she experienced when she would spend the night. I also lived in Glenn Springs for 12 years on Boys Home Road and occassionally drank the mineral water. My parents would go to the old hotel for dances on Saturday night back in the day.
I always wanted to see the inside of this house. We have passed it so many times. We live close and pass by there a lot! It’s so beautiful. I would live to see the gravestones as well!
So this is not in Glenn Springs, rather Camp Croft?
Correct!
There is a book called “A South Carolina Upcountry Saga: The Civil War Letters of Barham Bobo Foster and His Family, 1860-1863” by A. Gibert Kennedy from 2019. While doing some research I learned about this book and that Foster’s Tavern was originally considered part of the Glenn Springs area until the 1850s, when Cedar Springs Academy (now the SC School for the Deaf and Blind) opened. On Fairforest Creek, there was a working mill (long gone) called Foster’s Mill located about half way to Glenn Springs. In the 1940s, most of the area between Cedar Springs and Glenn Springs was built into Camp Croft by the US Army. This is now Croft State Park.
I remember taking music lessons here in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The room where the piano was located was always so cold! There was a fireplace in the room but I don’t remember ever seeing it being used. I’m glad to see that the house has been restored. Mrs. Ruff was a wonderful piano teacher she was very patience and kind. The highlight of our piano lessons was getting to go to the store across the street and buying a hot dog. They were the best ever and probably less than 50 cents!!
When I took lessons around 1963 or so, the fireplaces were burning coal chunks. Man, that was some hot heat. I always left sweating.
I grew up in a neighborhood not far from this house, heard all the stories, and now work across the street at the Bi-Lo. Every day I drive by it and every day it amazes me how this house/tavern is still here despite the busy roads and businesses that surround it. I’ve never been inside, but always have wanted to. As a future history teacher, it has always and will always stay with me how historical and important Spartanburg has been through the years to upstate SC.
I grew up right across the street from this beautiful home just southeast from downtown Spartanburg (on the road to Pauline & Clinton)… lots of memories playing in the house and on the property, plus I took 5 years of piano lessons from Mrs. Ruff there. It really got run down for a time, but it has been slowly refurbished by a family member who has moved back in the home. I'd love to visit it again and say hello to my buddy, Casper, the friendly ghost! :- )
I also took years of piano lessons from Mrs. Ruff.
Mary Ada said, “Come see us sometime.”
Gary, our homeschool art class would love to tour the house and see the gorgeous architecture.