Most Haunted Places in Virginia

September 3, 2015

Author: Lynch Fannie

There are many websites with best ten through hundred haunted places, usually nationwide or worldwide. But very few of these places include haunted spots in Virginia—maybe one or two. Let’s talk about places that make the Hampton Roads part of Virginia a very paranormal state where the dead refused to give up their residency to the living. Places you can visit because they are museums, amusement spots, hotels, cemeteries, where ghost tours go by and you might even be able to do a bit of paranormal investigating. Come visit top 10 supernatural spots from Charles City to Virginia Beach.

Haunted Hotel Fort Magruder near Williamsburg, Virginia

#1 Haunted Hotel Fort Magruder near Williamsburg, Virginia

1. Fort Magruder Hotel & Conference Center —6945 Pocahontas Trail, Williamsburg, Virginia. When one arrives for a stay at a hotel, they’re only planning a stay of rest and relaxation, or a place to stay while checking out the local tourist destinations. No one ever plans for paranormal activity in their room or hotel. But that is what you get when you stay at the Fort Magruder Hotel and Conference Center. Planted in the midst of where the Civil War’s Battle of Williamsburg happened on May 4, 1862, this hotel’s haunted goings-on has been seen, felt and heard by both members of the staff and tourists who have stayed there. There are those who awaken in the middle of the night to find a red-headed Civil War Confederate soldier sitting on their bed. Some handle this well, others asked to let out of their room and into another not so…haunted.

One woman admitted at last year’s Marscon (a local science fiction and fantasy convention held every January), at 3-4 a.m. Sunday morning on the third floor when all was quiet and no one about, she heard someone running down the hall behind her, and hit her side as they brush past her to continue at a run. Problem was, she saw no one, just heard those running footsteps. A lady in 1860s hooped gown has been seen. A soldier was observed walking through a door from outside, cross the lobby and go back outside by leaving through the wall on the other side. The registration clerk who observed this one night was happy to get daytime duty after that. Not that less activity happens then, just working the desk overnight means she is usually alone–except for the ghosts, of course. Another story has a couple arguing over a missing necklace. The husband thought the wife had misplaced it and they tore through their room, looking for it. After some time, it was found in the top drawer of the dresser. Problem was, they had searched this drawer two times already and there had been no necklace in it! A maid couldn’t find her keys after doing one room and she needed them to do rooms next on her schedule. The head of housekeeping helped her search every square inch of the room. They found nothing. So the head housekeeper asked the ghost that haunted the room to please return the keys, as her maid needed them.

They found the keys on the floor behind the toilet, where they had searched ten minutes before. The ghost who haunts this room? He’s a modern spirit who stayed overnight at the hotel, as he had died of a stroke while on the toilet. Another modern phantom is a young girl who died from an asthma attack. When they were redoing rooms on one portion of the second floor, one of them was her room. The workers would leave their stuff and the room a certain way, but the next morning found it completely rearranged. The video games in a section off the south wing are always serviced by a man who comes in to do just that. He finds them all at a crooked angle, so he puts them back straight, as that is how they are suppose to be. Finally, after months of this, he went to see the hotel sales people and demanded to please stop messing with the machines. The woman explained that they never touched them. It appears that the spirits do not like the way he has his machines sitting.

Mist Ghost Outside Haunted Hotel Fort Magruder

I have had experiences at the hotel while a guest at the past two Marscon Conventions and one June, when my husband and I stayed for a retreat there. The first year, I got a Union soldier who talked to me through my ghost box at the earthworks outside, telling me about the girlfriend he left behind. The following year, 2014, the same soldier returned, saying my name and my co-producer’s (who was filming the episode), telling us hello, too. My co-producer’s fully charged 10-hour battery in his $4,000 camcorder he used during the 2013 investigation had dropped sixty per cent as we stepped outside during the 2013 investigation, to die completely ten minutes later. Later, he was able to charge up the battery. Neither my digital camera nor anyone else’s on the hunt had a battery drain; instead they went after his like a shark out for blood!

Later that night after the 2014 investigation, I went to bed and woke up twice that night to use our room’s bathroom. The first time, I walked into a room full of cigarette smoke (neither of us smokes). The second time, the smoke was gone, but the door I had shut the first time, was now wide open. I have captured EVPs on my recorder. These were voices that answered questions I had asked, water running from a tap in the woman’s restroom in the Williamsburg Wing (at the time, no water was running and I was only person in the restroom).

Thursday night of 2014, I had taken photos and gotten mist. It was a clear night, so not from that. On inspection, I found some of the mist in the shapes of people! Another person led a 2013 investigation on Friday night and someone snapped a picture of her. In the photo, she saw a man wearing a hat, his hand on her shoulder. These are just the tip of what happens there. I’ll be returning to Marscon 2015 and was asked to lead another ghost hunt again Friday night. Stay here, and if you are lucky, you just might catch sight of a ghost or hear the soft whisper of a voice long gone or hear the boom from cannon fire.

Haunted Peyton Randolph House Williamsburg, Virginia

#2 Haunted Peyton Randolph House Williamsburg, Virginia

2.) Peyton Randolph House —Williamsburg, Virginia. The building that is considered to be the most haunted in Colonial Williamsburg is the Peyton Randolph house. Sir John Randolph had the home built in 1715 by William Robertson. He left the house to his wife, Susannah Beverley Randolph, until their second son, Peyton, reached the age of 24 and inherited it. The house remained in the family until 1824. That’s when Mary Monroe Peachy bought it. One of her children was killed in an accident; others died of diseases. A family member even committed suicide. A boarder died from tuberculosis. There are several accounts of phenomena at the Peyton Randolph House, including the shattering of a mirror and the sound of heavy footsteps. The first haunting is that of a young soldier who stayed in the structure when the Peachy family owned it. At the time of his stay, he attended college to advance in his studies. Unfortunately, he fell ill. When this occurred, he was cared for, but eventually died of the devastating illness.

Today, several accounts attest to the fact that the spirit of the young man still lingers in the structure. Many have stated that they have seen the apparition of a male, while others have stated that they have heard footsteps that seem to be quite heavy. Another ghost seen is an older woman who is dressed in a white, flowing gown. There is also a little girl thrown down the stairs and killed after her ghostly best friend, Elizabeth, grew angry with her. Doctors claimed that superhuman force would have been required to cause such a death.

Another ghost hangs around in the upstairs bedroom. Another story is told about a ghost of a woman who seemed very agitated and wanted to warn guests of impending danger. A woman named Helen Hall Mason stayed as a guest of the owner, as she was attending a friend’s wedding at the house in 1962. She used the oak paneled room, which was a bedroom on the second floor toward the back of the house. During the night, Mrs. Mason woke up and found a woman standing at the foot of the bed, wringing her hands. At first, Mrs. Mason thought that it was the hostess of the house... until she noticed that the woman’s dress wasn’t modern. A scarier thing—moonbeams went right through the woman. Mrs. Mason mentioned what happened the next morning. She didn’t feel threatened by this woman, but felt that the woman was trying to give a message of warning to her. The hosts said that Mrs. Mason’s story matched that of other stories over the years. Not much is known about this ghost, except she might be a servant.

Other tales of ghosts permeate this place. One of them concerned a two-year-old girl who was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom. She woke up, screaming for her mother. The child mumbled about a man in white standing in a corner, but the mother saw no one there. Some years later, a man sleeping in the same bedchamber saw a transparent male form standing in a corner. Another tale tells of a Colonial Williamsburg employee who saw a man in blue Colonial attire. Thinking he was one of them, he went over to talk to him. The man dissipated.

When I was working on my third ghost book, my husband and I took a tour of the house. The tour guide took us upstairs and to the middle of the hallway to give us a speech about slavery in Colonial Williamsburg, especially slavery concerning the house. Leaving my husband with the recorder going, I wandered around take a few pictures of a bedroom behind us, and then came back to listen. That’s when things grew weird. A cold crept over my hands, growing colder and colder until it felt bone-chilling cold! The coldness slid up to my arms, but nowhere else on my body. The hair on my arms rose. I never saw the hair on my arms stand that high before. I thought, Someone is trying to get my attention. Suddenly, an electric snap like you feel after walking across a rug wearing a sweater hit me, and the cold left, and my hair settled down. I went to get the recorder from my husband, but found it had been turned off. I accused him of shutting it off, but he denied it. I realized he was telling the truth and to this day, wondered if something paranormal had switched it off.

3.) Crawford Road—York County, Virginia. This is one haunted spot that gives me the willies every time I have been there. Assorted legends surround the bridge that crosses over Crawford Road. One of them says that African Americans were hanged at the location. This particular legend goes on to say that an African American woman in a white dress has been seen standing on top of the bridge, right at the edge. Then, right before witnesses’ eyes, she falls from it and vanishes just before making contact with the pavement. At other times, she halts in mid-air and swings back and forth. Like by a rope around her neck. Besides the spirits of African Americans, Civil War soldiers have been seen, too.

Haunted Crawford Bridge Virginia

#3 Haunted Crawford Bridge Virginia

Two stories explain some of these hauntings. One of them suggests that a young black bride fled her wedding and hanged herself from the bridge to escape an undesired fate of being married to a man she did not care for. Other folklore mentions that she was hung there because of her color. There is a story that a few black men were hung from the bridge by the KKK for a Klan statement. I can tell you there are plenty of KKK graffiti scribbled on the bridge and on the road as you drive up to the structure. Though I suspect that these are more the work of teenagers thinking it is funny, than as a KKK statement.

Besides sightings, there are disembodied voices and strange knocking noises heard by some witnesses. The strangest stories though are those about people’s vehicles that stop running as they approach the bridge. In many of these tales, those in the car have to get out and push beneath and past the "haunted" bridge. Not all cars need to be pushed, though. Some say that their car shifts into neutral and will roll some distance. Afterwards, the drivers get out and discover what looks like hand prints all over the paint. Sometimes though, the motor refuses to start and the driver has to call a tow truck to come get them and their vehicle.

Other scary tales tell of a strange black truck that appears and begins to give chase. It looks like it’s about to catch up with the back of the vehicle it is pursuing when it disappears. I thought this to be more urban legend than true ghost stories, but when my co-producer of Paranormal World Seekers had went to scope out the area day before we filmed there, he said he had been followed by a black truck that seemed to vanish after a while. He thought most likely the vehicle had went off road somewhere, but I pointed out the legend to him. Later, someone else I trust told me that they too, had an experience with a black truck on that road.

In 1990, a real man by the last name of Johnson went to meet a potential buyer for his Mercedes-Benz alone, was never seen by his wife again, at least, not alive. Johnson’s body was found in a wooded area off Crawford Road, a bullet wound in his chest and his wrists handcuffed, and his legs taped together. It took a television show, "America’s Most Wanted" to arrest the killer.

Using a ghost box, one person asked, "Who killed you?" They hoped that Johnson would reveal the name of his killer that matched the one in the newspaper article at DailyPress.com to verify one ghost haunting the road. Instead, Johnson didn’t answer, but another male spirit replied, "The villagers killed me." That has us wondering why and how far back this haunted location’s history stretches.

Scary and freaky? This is a place that straddles legend and truth, and driving this road at night can be downright spooky.

Haunted Ferry Plantation Virginia

#4 Haunted Ferry Plantation Virginia Beach, Virginia

4.) Ferry Plantation House —4136 Cheswick Lane, Virginia Beach, Virginia. While the current house (Federal, with three floors and ten rooms and a center hall) was built in 1830, the area it sits on was inhabited as far back as 1642. The house first got its name in 1642 when the Ferry Boat Service ran the Lynnhaven waterway. The second Princess Anne courthouse was built on the plantation near the present location of Old Donation Church. This courthouse held part of the trial of Grace Sherwood, Virginia’s only convicted witch tried by water. She was found guilty of witchcraft and jailed for some time in a now long gone timber courthouse. Anthony Walke may have ran a tavern on the plantation during the Revolutionary War. The Walke Manor house burned to the ground in 1828. Two years later in 1830, George and Elizabeth (Walke) MacIntosh used the good bricks of the manor house and built the house that stands on what remains of the land today. It was built for their seventeen-year-old son, Charles Fleming MacIntosh. Charles and his family were against the secession at the beginning of the War Between the States, but like many others, when Virginia seceded, Charles resigned his USN commission and was commissioned by the Confederate Navy to be Captain of the CSS Louisiana. Today, the City of Virginia Beach owns it and except for the land the house is on, the rest of the plantation is now a bedroom community.

The house boasts at least 11 ghosts, including those who drowned nearby, as well as former residents and slaves. I have been there twice, on all-night investigations in the summer that they allowed paranormal groups to do from April through first Saturday in August for a fee (this money goes toward the house). Ghosts experienced there is a ghost cat, a couple of young girls, a boy who fell out of the window from the second floor, and a grumpy, black male slave. In the midst of the evening and even during the day, people report hearing voices had having a sense of being watched. Others have physical experiences such as becoming light-headed and heavy draining pressure.

One ghost seen and heard there is the "Lady in White". The governess for a family that lived in the Walke Manor, it is believed that she fell down the stairs to her tragic end. Just what caused her fall is still uncertain. Psychics that have visited the location have agreed that a broken neck caused the death. Yet the cause of the fall has been in question, maybe due to the children she used to care for or slipping on her own gown. Tourists can visit this haunted house, as it is open on Halloween evening each year for those interested in learning or experiencing more. Stories tell of an Indian burial site beneath the plantation land and is now underneath the tennis court. For it is said that the Native Americans haunt there too, due to construction workers digging up their graves and stealing the valuables buried with the bodies. And so, angry Indian spirits haunt the area, too. Once, at my first ghost hunt there, when I was outside and ask the ghosts to touch me, I got a sharp yank on my hair that hurt. Upset Native American?

The second time I investigated there, besides capturing the EVP of the ghost cat meowing and seeing things, I also had the, ah, pleasure, of being bounced up and down like on a bucking bronco, after a a man with a deep voice and grouchy disposition (we think this was the African-American slave who haunts there) spoke from someone’s ghost box and told us to "Get out!" That is when the chair I sat in began to bounce with me still on it. I said, "I think they are tired of us and want us to go now." Luckily, it was around 6 a.m. and dawn breaking, so we left.

5.) Edgewood Plantation Bed and Breakfast —4900 John Tyler Memorial Highway, Charles City, Virginia. Edgewood Plantation Bed and Breakfast is a charming, lovely house. It is a bed and breakfast, with several bedrooms, all decorated in 19th century style. Once it had been land where Berkeley Plantation’s slaves had their shacks on. The Benjamin Harrison Mill is still there. Throughout its dramatic history, it has served as a church, post office, telephone exchange, restaurant, nursing home and a signal post for the Confederates to spy on McClellan’s Army. Dating circa 1849, this is a National & State regulated landmark.

Besides the living staying overnight, ghosts linger there, including Lizzie Rowland, daughter of Spencer Rowland who built the house. Lizzie’s fiancée never came back from fighting in the Civil War and was said to stay at her bedroom window, even carving her name on the glass. She died a spinster and though buried at Westover Church Cemetery, she prefers the environs of her home. She is not the only ghost to stalk the rooms. A Confederate soldier was seen by one visitor staying the night, asking her if she needed anything! Another is a little girl ghost. I had the pleasure of talking with her through my ghost box December 19th. She appeared to like me and followed me to each spot I stopped to do a session with others. Another spirit is a grouchy man who I suspect is the one who committed suicide in the mill, twenty years after his wife did. A woman also committed suicide in the 1950s, by hanging herself from the staircase in the house. The man told me he did not want the people investigating in the house and that we should get out. Later in another room—Lizzie Rowland’s—he told me to go home. Finally, he left me alone. In Lizzie’s room, while I talk with the ghosts using my box, a young woman videoed me, using her iPhone, and in the video, you can see the curtains in the window behind me moving, as if someone was playing with them. Close to the end of the night, I was told by a male spirit using the box to answer my question that ten spirits were in the house that night. Before I left, I snapped some pictures outside and go plenty of mist and weird phenomena. It was a clear nigh, with moon and stars in the night sky, so no reason for mist due to the weather.

Misty Ghosts Haunted Landscape Edgewood Plantation Virginia

In 2011, I’d gotten two photos of mist when it was a clear night. One of them looked like a dog or two dogs. I was told since then; people have heard and even gotten EVPs of a small dog barking.

Next time you stay the night there, do not be surprise if something unseen climbs into bed with you and tells you to "Get out!"

Haunted Cavalier Hotel Virginia

#6 Haunted Cavalier Hotel Virginia

6.) Cavalier Hotel—4201 Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Famous folks such as Al Capone and Woodrow Wilson stayed at this 1927 swank establishment. Famous stars partied there in the 1920s. Stable were kept there for people to board their horses. The US Navy used it during WWII. The last owner filed bankruptcy, but the place was saved and registered with the National Register of Historical Places. It will reopen in 2016 as a 5-star member of Marriott’s distinguished Autograph Collection.

There are ghostly tales about this six floor hotel. One tells of a bell hop that stands watch on the sixth floor, trying to dissuade people from going there. "You don’t want to go there. There are ghosts up there," he says. Strangely enough, I was there in March 2010 for a paranormal conference and learned what employees of the hotel have encountered on an inner staircase they use to go from floor to floor when the elevator is busy. A man in an Army uniform appears and says, "There are dead bodies here." The story told sounds so much like an urban legend. After all, what ghost warns the living of other ghosts? I found out that during WWII, the U. S. Navy used the hotel as a radar training school, herding sailors into cleaned out stables and conducting classes in the drained swimming pool. A ship off shore had been blown up and bodies floated ashore, brought to the hotel. I also suspect those who died in WWII and their bodies brought back from Europe, had been stored in the building short term, until taken away to their home states. One soldier though still appears to want to remain and warm people.

The hotel has also seen numerous guests (summertime is only time they had guests stay in the rooms) call the front desk complaining about a cat wondering the halls late at night. No cat as ever been seen or found for the past half-century. There is a local rumor about a girl who brought her pet cat with her while she stayed in the hotel. However, one day the cat got loose and wound up falling into the outdoor swimming pool, causing the little girl to jump in after it. Both the girl and the cat drowned. Although an apparition of a little girl is not something that has been reported at the hotel, the sound of the cat is something that is reported on a regular basis. Adolph Coors (the owner of the Coors Brewery) plunged to his death from the sixth floor of the building. Many people who stay on the sixth floor say they experience cold spots, voices, and even the sound of flesh hitting the pavement below. Nobody knows whether Coors committed suicide or was killed, but he died in 1929, during the Prohibition. Guests have also seen a white lady in the lobby, dragging a suitcase behind her. They’ve also stated that their towels have the tendency to change colors on occasion, their toilet will flush randomly, and the elevator will run when nobody is around.

Being there for the paranormal conference in 2010 had lots of paranormal activity. My EMF meter kept flashing on and off in the room we guests had tables to sell at. One woman told me her daughter and friend had came back from a ghost tour at Ferry Plantation and were taking pictures when her daughter saw a dapper young man in 1920s outfit sitting in a chair across the table from her friend. Her camera refused to click and when it did take the picture, the man did not show up in the photo. I found a fake red flower moving on my bedspread Friday night as I got ready for bed, looking like someone was holding and moving it. It dropped, and though I looked under the bed and around the floor, I saw only the one in my room. I found out later at Valentine’s Day that the hotel had an event where loads of these flowers decorated the building. The desk clerk said that no doubt one of them had been left in my room. I replied, "Well, I could believe that if it had come from under my bed or on the floor, but it was on top of covers that I hadn’t drawn back yet. " I shoved it in my purse and zippered it up. The next morning it had vanished, though my purse was still zippered up. Had this had been from a gentleman ghost? Had I offended him with me being upset by the gift? Besides this, during the weekend I heard odd sounds and even had a lamp on the desk come on. The weirdest thing though was when I headed back to the hotel from the dinner Saturday night across the street at the new Cavalier. As I stepped back on the grounds, I looked down and saw three shadows. Now I can believe I might have two shadows, but I have never seen me with three ones! On Sunday, when I went up to the fifth floor (I did the sixth first, but nothing happened there). The floor was quiet and I turned on my recorder and asked if anyone was there (everyone was out of their rooms and downstairs at this time). I heard a voice utter, "No!" And yes, I heard it later on my recorder, too.

The Roaring ’20s may be history, but it appears that history is still happening at this very haunted building.

Haunted Boxwood Inn Virginia

#7 Haunted Boxwood Inn Virginia

7.) Boxwood Inn Bed and Breakfast —10 Elmhurst Street, Newport News, Virginia. Originally the home of Simon Reid Curtis, the southern mansion was built in 1897. It was the first dwelling built in Lee Hall Village and is the only 19th century building remaining. Simon Curtis designed the house to accommodate his family residence, the hall of records and tax assessor’s office, a general store and the county post office. His wife, Nannie and he had four children; Carter Coleman, Douglas Cary, Elsie Cook and Nannie Reed. After the death of his parents in the 1940s, the eldest son Coleman continued to live in the home with his wife Edith. Edith was a collector of antiques and filled the home with her treasures. When Edith passed away, the house was saved from destruction by Mr. & Mrs. Lucas. They purchased the property in 1995 and completely restored the home and opened as the Boxwood Inn. In December of 2008, Kathy and Derek Hulick, along with Kathy’s son Josh and his wife Rebekah, took over the Boxwood Inn. The house was added to the Virginia Landmark Register and to the National Register of Historical Places in 2009.

The main gentle spirit here is said to be Nannie Curtis. It is said that doors open and close by themselves. Nannie is also blamed for knocking on doors in the morning. There are also stories that a phantom of an elderly gentleman with a cane has been spotted. General Pershing’s Suite has been called the most haunted room in the house, but the Kathy Hulick does not agree. There is the Traveling Salesman’s room, where a salesman stayed for the night and never left, having died in the room. It is said he haunts there still. A young woman who worked for the owners before the Hulicks took over, had a young child she brought to the inn with her. She placed the child in a playpen in the office so she could work. The baby began to cry and she went to see what the problem was. A beautiful woman in a bonnet was patting the child. The employee grabbed the child and bolted out the door, never to be seen again. Another time, a policeman who stayed there asked for a sign that the ghosts would not haunt him and an alarm clock went off. It did not work for two days afterwards. After that, it went back to normal, and no one living had fixed it either. Things are always happen in the dining room, such as forks vanishing or placed elsewhere. From the floor below, footsteps can be heard in the attic, when no one is up there.

Haunted Rosewell Plantation Virginia

#8 Haunted Rosewell Plantation Virginia

8.) Rosewell Plantation— 5113 Old Rosewell Lane, Gloucester, Virginia. Rosewell was once one of colonial America’s grandest mansions, but it burned down in 1916, so all today visitors will see is its ruins. Begun in 1725, Rosewell was home to the Page family for more than 100 years. The fourth and last family to own Rosewell donated the ruins site to the Gloucester Historical Society in 1979. Since 1995, the Rosewell Foundation has taken on the mission of preserving, studying, and presenting this historic ruin.

Many occurrences have been reported. The apparition of a woman is seen stepping down the mansion’s front steps every evening. Strange drops in temperature, odd noises, and even disembodied voices are heard. Music (like from a harpsichord) is heard playing, guests are seen descending down invisible stairs, boys with lanterns stand where doorways once were, and a woman in a red cloak rushes into a rose garden. Some of the phenomena are sounds that sound like slaves coming in from the fields. One of the eeriest tales is of a couple who found their exit blocked by a car with 1930s plates. As they got out of their vehicle and went to see what the matter was, they saw a pale woman peering through the back window. They knocked on the window, but no one rolled down the window, so they peered in an found no one in the car. They found out later no one owned a car from that era. The hoof beats of horses have also been heard, when no sign of a horse has been seen.

A ghost hunting friend recommended me to check out the basement. Not only did I get an EVP of footsteps walking in the dirt floor, but I actually heard a woman’s voice coming from outside, just like she stood just outside the doorway. Later, I heard that voice on my recording, backing up what I heard. I investigated the ruins and the land they stood on, but found no other woman than me.

Haunted Bacon's Castle Virginia

#9 Haunted Bacon’s Castle Virginia

9.) Bacon’s Castle—465 Bacon’s Castle Trail, Surry, Virginia. Bacon’s Castle ranks highly on many lists. It’s described as the only Jacobean house in America and one of three in the Western Hemisphere. It is Virginia’s oldest house, dating to 1665, and the oldest brick dwelling in British North America.. Indeed, it may be one of the oldest haunted houses in the U.S. as well. It was called Allen’s Brick House at first, but the house acquired its current name during Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 when some of Nathaniel Bacon’s supporters took it over. The house survived the Rebellion and centuries of American history. Today, it is a house museum with the oldest English formal garden in North America.

There are several ghostly phoneme connected with the building. A fireball has often appeared and disappeared to inhabitants of this home. In another supernatural sighting, the property owner’s wife encountered a sweet white face with large black eyes and parted hair with a white scarf around her head. In yet another inexplicable incident, she discovered her room in disarray — a round burner-lamp, normally sitting on the table, leaned against a pedestal, and its globe was smashed to pieces. She also found a large open dictionary on the sofa, and the heavy book stand had been moved across the room by an unknown force.

Haunted Capitol Williamsburg Virginia

#10 Haunted Capitol Williamsburg Virginia

10.) Capitol —Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. After fire destroyed (for the third time) the Jamestown Statehouse in 1698, the burgesses decided to move the colony’s government to Middle Plantation, soon renamed Williamsburg. On May 18, 1699, they resolved to build the first American structure to which the word "Capitol" was applied. The building that stands today is substantially the same as Cary’s, but it is the third Capitol on the site. The building was last used as a capitol on December 24, 1779, when the General Assembly adjourned to reconvene May 1 at the new capital, Richmond. By turns the building served as an admiralty court, a law school, a military hospital, a grammar school, and a female academy. The west wing was sold for its bricks and demolished in 1793; the east burned in 1832. In 1881 the last above ground traces of the Capitol were removed from the lot. The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities deeded the grounds to Colonial Williamsburg in 1928, and Colonial Williamsburg reconstructed the Capitol of 1705 – 1747. The architecture was more interesting than that of the second Capitol, and it was better documented. After the capitol burned down the first time, the Public Records office was built. It also became the office of the Secretary.

Ghost stories: Around the twentieth century, the Public Records office became a home for a family: David Roland Jones, his wife, and seven daughters. None of the daughters ever married or left home. One of the girls, Edna, was unhappy with her situation, but one day she met John Mince who brought supplies to her home. They fell in love. She agreed to meet him one day and she slipped out, but, panicking about her father, she never saw the oncoming carriage. When she did, it was too late—for it ran over her. Since that terrible night, she has been seen roaming the grounds, only to vanish a few seconds later. Her phantom has also been seen hovering over the Jones family cemetery, fading in and out. She has even been captured on film in the cemetery. She has been heard, too.

A legend is told that at the stroke of midnight on July Fourth, the spirits of Patrick Henry and other Revolutionary leaders assemble once again.

This is only the tip of the paranormal iceberg in the southeastern part of Virginia. Take a trip to the Hampton Roads area. You will find some many interesting places, entrenched in history, and even just the bizarre. But most of all, you might run into a ghost or two. Just like the rest of Virginia, it is a very haunted region.

At Colonial Ghosts we write articles, perform research, and provide ghost tours in Williamsburg, VA, in the Colonial Williamsburg and William and Mary areas. Visit us at https://colonialghosts.com