Hazleton Paranormal Society
The Shanley Hotel
The original hotel was first built by Thomas Rich in 1845, claiming in the local newspaper to be 'one of
the area's best with fine food and new furnishings. In 1851, it became Hungerford's Hotel, rending that
their hotel was "one of the most beautiful and commodious public houses to be found in any section of
the country" .

Several owners later, Adolgh Wagner, a popular landlord, bought the hotel in January of 1887.  On
March 18, 1895 trouble came.  A house nearby caught on fire; it spread to the hotel, burning it down to
the foundation.  Diligently, by September, the new frame was up  and in November, it was open to the
public once again.
There had been  many owners since than but the one who seemed to have placed The Napanoch
Hotel on 'the
map', was James Louis Shanley. He was born in Ireland on October (Halloween) 31, 1874 and moved
with his family to New York City. James and his brothers were successful business men, opening
many elegant restaurants and  Hotels across the country. For health reasons he moved upstate and
purchased the hotel on October 1, 1906.

James Shanley was a gallant man and well loved in the community. On April 26,1910, James married
Beatrice Rowley. The town turned out for a 'good old time skimmer-ton' ,with a grand parade welcoming
back the honey-mooners  from Washington D.C..The Shanley's welcomed everyone, with
entertainment, card and domino torments, as well as glorious parties and holding special events.  In
1908 he added on a bowling alley to the building along with a billiard room and Barber Shop.The rich
and famous were also fans of the Shanleys.  Thomas Edison and Eleanor Roosevelt were  frequent
guests and close friends.  The Shanley's attended the
Inaugural Ball in Washington for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Eleanor Roosevelt took particular
care on making the arrangements.  In 1933, Eleanor and her friend motored from Rosco to Hyde Park,
stopping at the Shanley's for a social visit.

Cheerful times were without it's hardships and the hotel had their share.  Mrs. Beatrice Shanley borne
three children, all of which die within nine months of birth.  Beatrice was known for her high-tea's and
social card parties. Extravagant perfumes, priceless jewelry, and fancy clothing adorned her petite
figure.  Garnished on her Victorian bed were sheets made of satin and silk.   "A Lady" they would call
her.   Apparently, she adored children, allowing them to take their afternoon naps on her bed.Mrs.
Shanley's sister, Esther Faughman, and brother in-law, John Faughman, lived in an adjoining
apartment.  Esther was a beautiful women with a big heart.  She had existed a lonely life, yearning for
her friends and family back home in New York City.  Patiently she waited by the mahogany telephone
booth each day wishing the phone would ring.   Sadly, she died giving birth to the third child leaving her
precious little girls for Beatrice and James to raise.    

The hotel's Barber suffered tragedy likewise, when his 4 year old daughter drowned in the well.  There
were several other accidental deaths, missing persons and rumors of murder through out the years. In
1937 the community had suffered a great lost. James endured a heart attack and died August 26th.  He
was an willing supporter and a generous contributor rendering a strong benefit to his town. Several
priest attended to his funeral services. Among the many expressions of sorrow and sympathy sent from
far and near to Mrs. Shanley, was one from Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, wife of the President of the
United States.  Mrs. Roosevelt sent flowers to Mrs. Shanley and in a accompanying letter expressed
regret that she had not known of Mr. Shanley's death in time so that she might have attended the funeral.


After James death, the establishment seemed to be too much for Mrs. Shanley to handle.  In 1944, she
sold the hotel to Mr. Al Hazen and moved back to NYC.  Strangely astonishing, Al Hazen was born and
had died the same days (different years) as James Shanley.The owners of the hotel were mostly family
oriented yet welcome travelers far and near.   If the hotel wasn't your home, it was definitely your second
lodging.Ownership has changed hands repeatedly soon after, leaving the hotel in distress. Presently,
in the HISTORY BOOK OF THE SHANLEY HOTEL, are the new dedicated pioneers & family,  Cynthia
and Salvatore Nicosia salvaging it's glorious  memories and atoning it's noble history.   After a one
night stay, visitors feel the same, it is their home too.

On June 19th and 20th, 2009, some members of the group conducted an investigation at the Shanley.
We can not put into words the hospitality of the owners, Sal and Cindy. The hotel is an amazing place
with hand painted floors and antique furniture from all eras.

As for activity, it did not disappoint us. While in "Joe's Room" on the third floor, we conducted an evp
session and came up with quite a few evps. All of the evps can be seen in the video below.
We also had some personal experiences while at the hotel. Two investigators went into the "secret room"
where there has been stories of people that had felt as if something was placing handcuffs or some type
of binding device onto their wrists. When asked if the spirit could place the "handcuffs" on the members, an
investigator had a feeling of a handcuff being placed onto his left wrist. When asked if the spirit could
remove the handcuff from that member and place them on another member, the investigator began feeling
a "tingly" sensation on her right wrist then moving to her left wrist. After the short session, the members
exited the room and went outside. One member began feeling a burning sensation on his back that would
get hotter and hotter. When he lifted up his shirt, there was a small red mark on his back which was
observed by three people. The pictures of this mark did not come out well.

While investigating in Marguerite's room, a member of HPS and Jeff Sylvia were conducting an evp
session when the member began feeling a sensation of a needle being poked into his head, directly
behind his ear. The member asked Jeff if he could take a look at it and Jeff stated that three scratches
began forming behind the ear along with some swelling. Once again, the pictures of this did not come out
well either.

In the bordello, a member of HPS, Jeff Sylvia and a few other people that were present began to hear
something that can be described as jewelry box music. It was about 1a.m., so there was no outside
contamination. Although we were running digital voice recorders and camcorders, this audio was not
picked up on either piece of equipment.

The Shanley Hotel is just an amazing place with such great history and activity that HPS will be making
many more trips to this location and continue our great friendship with owners Sal and Cindy.