HAUNTED MICHIGAN: Henry & Clara Ford Haunt the Botsford Inn
This time around, it’s the ghost of Henry Ford and his wife, Clara, who is being blamed for frightening the mortals. Mr. & Mrs. Ford evidently have been visiting the Botsford Inn in Farmington and causing all sorts of disturbances.
Why?
Because it was where Henry and Clara met for the first time and where they would have their “romantic rendezvous”.
The Botsford Inn was constructed in 1836. Complete with a gorgeous upstairs ballroom, this was where the two would dance and enjoy each other’s company into the wee small hours until the break of dawn. In 1924, after the Botsford was being threatened to be demolished, Henry bought and relocated the inn, saving it from demolition.
Henry passed away in 1947, with Clara following in 1950, with the remaining Ford family running the inn until 1951. Once Henry & Clara were gone, the weirdness began. Employees of the inn were witnessing and reporting strange things. For example, once when the ballroom was set up to accommodate a wedding reception, the staff came in the following day only to discover the silverware setting had been reversed, cups turned upside-down, and chairs moved away from the table.
Staff members would mysteriously get locked into the room; if they stepped away from the door, they would hear the latch unlock on its own…and lights would go on & off on their own.
But has anyone actually seen one of the Ford spirits? Maybe…a customer claimed he was on a stairway when a white, misshapen figure proceeded to push him down the stairs.
The Botsford Inn is located at 28000 Grand River Avenue in Farmington and, in 1979, was named on the National Register of Historic Places. Nowadays it is part of the Botsford Hospital complex.
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