Home of the Headless Horseman Burger and a Confederate Soldier J.P Doyle’s Restaurant and Public House

In Sleepy Hollow and Terrytown, many shops and businesses like to pay homage to the Washington Irving tale The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Shops name themselves after characters and decorations like animatronics of the Headless Horseman appear around Halloween. 

For instance, J.P Doyle’s Restaurant and Public House has its signature burger, the Headless Horseman Burger!  I had it myself, and I recommend it not just for the awesome name but because it’s nice, beefy, juicy, cheese oozing, and has chipotle mayo! 

Ok, enough for my food review on the ghost story. Around the restaurant and beer garden, people are said to have seen a man donning a Confederate soldier uniform. One story is about a bartender working late and seeing a man appear in the beer garden. He opened the door going into the restaurant. The bartender was exhausted and told the figure to leave. He did so and turned around, vanishing into midair. 

In terms of any Civil War history involving Sleepy Hollow and Terrytown, there was a camp established for Union soldiers called Camp Irving for training and a known Union captain from there, William Chalmers; however, there were no Civil War battles in Terrytown, there were not any in New York State. Terrytown was only used as a battlefield during the Revolutionary War. There was an incident with Confederate agents attempting to burn down a small town to gain support. Still, that’s the only significant involvement of Confederates in the state of New York. It could also be possible that a Confederate soldier (espionage?) could have made their way up there only for something to happen to them. 

If you want to potentially encounter a Confederate ghost and get a good burger, J.P. Doyle’s is there for you!