You don't need to believe in ghosts to enjoy a ghost story. The tales that have grown over generations around reputedly haunted houses can take on a fantastic life of their own in folklore, and the stories that surround a place can influence our experiences of them. All it takes is a spooky place, imagination and a glimpse of something unexpected, only half seen. Prepare to suspend your disbelief for the list of the most haunted places in the United States.
This building is the epitome of a haunted hospital. The first hospital on the edge of Louisville, Kentucky, was built in 1910 to treat victims of the white plague, a disease that was decimating the country.
The disease was often fatal and there was no known cure. In some cases, doctors tried experimental methods to help ease the symptoms, and in other cases, the cure was often fatal. According to surviving records from the hospital, the sanatorium was the scene of many deaths over the years, although claims that more than 60,000 patients died there are exaggerated. The worst year of the epidemic was 1945, and historians say the real number was closer to 8,000.
Waverly Hills served as a geriatric hospital from the 1960s until the 1980s, and several stories about the spooky old hospital are based on rumors from this time that patients were mistreated.
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In the years since Waverly Hills was closed for good, wanderers, thrill-seekers and ghost hunters who found their way inside have told of slamming doors and strange noises. The screams of patients have been heard from empty rooms. Visitors are said to be followed through the narrow corridors by shadowy forms that gather in the building's dark recesses. The death tunnel is an underground tunnel that leads from the hospital to the railway tracks at the bottom of the hill.
The fifth floor of the hospital is where patients with mental problems were treated. The room where two nurses killed themselves by hanging and jumping to their deaths is said to be haunted. Some visitors claimed to have heard voices telling them to get out of the building.
In the colonial period, the New Jersey Pine Barrens was home to several saw mills, paper mills and towns for the people who worked in them. When coal was discovered in Pennsylvania, people moved there instead of it. The remains of several ghost towns, as well as more than a few ghost stories, survive. A black dog is said to roam the beaches and forests of the coast, and the spirit of the pirate Capt. William Kidd has been seen there.
The tale of the Jersey Devil is one of the most famous supernatural stories of the Pine Barrens. According to the State of New Jersey, the creature was born in 1735 as the 13th child of Deborah Leeds, the wife of a rival of Benjamin Franklin. According to the legend, the baby was born with leathery wings, a goat's head and hooves, and it flew up the chimney of the room, where it was born and has been killing livestock in the region ever since.
By the late 1700s, what was then known as the "Leeds Devil" had become a popular ghost story in the southern New Jersey area, and by the 19th century, it had grown into a local legend. Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon Bonaparte's brother and the former king of Spain, built a mansion in the Pine Barrens after his exile in 1813. In the 1840s, the creature was blamed for attacks on livestock that were accompanied by bloodcurdling screams, and it began to be spotted regularly in the area. Newspapers published hundreds of claims by people who said they had seen the Jersey Devil in South Jersey and Philadelphia in 1909. Several schools in the Delaware Valley closed and workers stayed home because of the newspaper coverage.
Home to dozens of celebrated haunted houses and hundreds of ghost occurrences, the city of Savannah is often called the most haunted city in the United States, especially by its many ghost tour operators. One of the cemetery's resident ghosts is that of a 6-year-old girl who died of pneumonia in 1889. She is said to haunt the life-size statue that stands over her grave, which is sometimes said to move as if they were alive, while the sounds of children playing or crying is sometimes heard nearby.
Despite the discovery of a crypt beneath the new property, the Hampton Lillybridge House was relocated several years later. The 26 families who have lived in the house have all complained of ghosts that forced them to leave. Furniture moving around and doors locking themselves were some of the strange encounters.
The Sorrel-Weed house is said to be haunted by at least two people, which makes it the most famous haunted house in the area. Historical researchers point out that by the time of her reported suicide, she was in a state of lunacy.
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. is the most famous address in the United States. The White House has been the home of the president of the United States since 1800, and the ghost of the second president, John Adams, can sometimes be seen walking through the East Room. There is a violin in the Yellow Oval Room that has been played by the ghost of Thomas Jefferson. The sound of Andrew Jackson's laugh is said to have been heard by first lady Mary Todd Lincoln. The ninth president, William Henry Harrison, is said to haunt the attic of the White House, while the 10th president, John Tyler, is said to haunt the Blue Room.
The phrase "Lincoln's ghost" has become well known because of the many reports of the 16th president's ghost. The most famous of these events was in 1940, when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill spent a night in the Lincoln Bedroom. According to the National Constitution Center, the ghost of Lincoln was leaning on the mantelpiece above the fireplace when he encountered the man who had just climbed out of the bath. The ghost smiled and disappeared after he said, "Good evening, Mr. President; you seem to have me at a disadvantage." He moved to a bedroom across the hall.
The Queen of the Netherlands fainted at the sight of Lincoln's ghost, dressed in a top hat and coat, standing at the door of her bedroom during a visit to the White House in 1942. First ladies Grace Coolidge and Eleanor Roosevelt, and dozens of White House aides and staffers have reported seeing or hearing spirits.
According to Life Magazine, Whaley House in San Diego is the most haunted house in America. The home was built on the site of a former graveyard. It has served as a family home, a grain store, a courthouse, a ballroom, and a school over the years. The museum opened in 1960.
Yankee Jim Robinson, who was hanged in 1852 from a gallows that stood on the property before the house was built, is said to be the oldest resident ghost at Whaley House. As the wagon holding him beneath the gallows moved away, Yankee Jim dragged his feet on the wagon for as long as possible, before swinging like a pendulum and killing himself.
Although Thomas Whaley witnessed Yankee Jim's gruesome execution, he was able to purchase the property a few years later and build a house there. The Whaley family heard footsteps as if they were coming from a large man.
The house has been rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Yankee Jim, and visitors to the museum in the 1960s heard a phantom walking.
The ghosts of the Whaley family and a woman in a long skirt have been seen by other visitors. A parapsychologist said he saw a phantom dog running inside the house, similar to a fox terrier, which was owned by the Whaley family.
The most haunted graveyard in the United States is located in a forest on the outskirts of Chicago, and it has a reputation for being haunted by ghosts, strange lights, and other supernatural episodes.
Several people claimed to have seen a phantom farmhouse above the graveyard in the 1950s after an outbreak of vandals. The ghost of a farmer and his plow horse who were dragged to their deaths in a pond have been seen by others.
Some people driving on the roads near the cemetery at night have reported encounters with a phantom 1940s gangster-style car that appears on the road in front of them, before turning off the road and disappearing. There was no damage to the phantom car or any other car after the shock had passed.
In 1991, the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper ran a photograph of a woman in an old-fashioned dress sitting on a gravestone that appeared to be transparent. The woman was not visible when the photograph was taken, according to the photographer. The figure in the photograph has become known as Madonna of Bachelor's grove, and may be linked to the legend of the White Lady, who is buried next to a young child.
The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, was featured in the movie "The Shining" and it was also the inspiration for the Stephen King novel.
The hotel was built in 1909 by F.O. Stanley and his wife. According to myth, the ghost of an accomplished piano player named Flora Stanley can sometimes be heard playing the piano in the music room at night. Sometimes F.O. Stanley is out of place in old photographs, which inspired the last scene of the movie. The staff at the hotel claim that ghosts have moved the bags of visitors and the lights have been turned off.
Room 217, which is featured in both the book and the movie, is said to be haunted by the ghost of a maid who was blown out of a window in a gas explosion, but not killed. According to his later interviews, King and his wife spent the night in that room. The gruesome events suggested in the book and movie seem to be from his imagination.
Room 217 at the Stanley Hotel can now be booked, as well as other rooms. Hotel staff say ghosts have been seen in the tunnels under the hotel that used to be used as a waystation, as well as the ghosts of the Stanleys and the maid.
New England's historic covered bridges have stories of ghosts. Emily's Bridge is located east of Burlington and is one of the best known. The bridge was the scene of a young woman's suicide in the mid- 1800s after she arranged to meet a lover there but he didn't show up. According to Atlas Obscura, Emily's ghost is said to haunt the bridge, leaving claw-like marks on passing cars and scratching the backs of people who cross the bridge on foot. The sound of a woman screaming has been reported there. Emily's Bridge is a fixture of Vermont's tourism industry. The town of Stowe has enacted an law to keep people away from the bridge at night to avoid being disturbed by ghost hunters. The story of Emily might not be true, according to Obscure Vermont.
There is a Covered Bridge in Massachusetts. It was named for a woman who was killed in 1704 after she was taken captive during a raid by French and Native American forces on the English settlement at Deerfield. Williams, the wife of a local clergyman, was killed by a tomahawk blow when she collapsed as the captives were marching by the Green River. Williams is said to haunt the covered bridge that was built at the spot, and her ghost has been seen near the water under the bridge, and mistaken for members of her family.
New Orleans has a unique local flavor that makes it a contender for the title of the most haunted city in America. The LaLaurie Mansion is one of the most notorious haunted houses in the city. Madame LaLaurie was a wealthy widow and prominent socialite. In April 1834, after a fire at the house, rescuers found bound slaves in a secret torture chamber in the attic, and there were signs that others had been murdered there. Madame LaLaurie fled the city after a mob of citizens raided the house. The building has been claimed to be haunted by the ghosts of her victims.
Among them is Marie Laveau, the Queen of Voodoo, who died in New Orleans but was not buried there.
It is rumored that the Plantation was built on a Tunica Indian burial ground. At least 12 ghosts are said to haunt the plantation grounds and buildings, including a slave who was accused of poisoning the family of the plantation owners. The ghosts of her victims, a mother and daughter, are trapped inside a mirror in the main house.
The main staircase of the plantation house is said to be haunted by the ghost of William Winter. Winter died after being shot by a stranger. Winter died in his wife's arms as he climbed the stairs to the 17th step. His phantom footsteps can sometimes be heard on the staircase, climbing to the 17th step before stopping.
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was the site of the largest battle of the American Civil War. More than 8,000 people were killed at Gettysburg, and in the years since the battle, there have been an uncommon number of ghost stories linked to events on the battlefield. Several visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park have reported hearing sounds of battle, including phantom cannon fire and the voices of ghosts.
Several visitors over the years have claimed to have heard the sound of gunfire and drums at The Devil's Den, where heavy fighting took place on the second day of the battle. Devil's Den is said to be haunted by the ghost of a soldier wearing buckskin clothing, a large hat and no shoes.
The Confederates were forced back from an assault on the flank of the Union forces on July 2, 1863, at Little Round Top, which is believed to be a turning point in the battle. Some Civil War actors who worked on a dramatization of the battle of Gettysburg met with a man in a shabby Union Army uniform who gave them some musket rounds, which they assumed were movie props.
Three Confederate soldiers were hanged at the covered bridge west of the Gettysburg battlefield, according to legend. Some stories say the soldiers were hanged as spies, while others say they deserted from the unit. Some people claim to have heard gunshots and horses galloping on the bridge, while others claim to have seen strange moving mists and inexplicable lights. The smell of smoke from Gen. Robert E. Lee's pipe has been reported near the bridge, which was on the line of retreat.
The Light Station may be the best known of the hundreds of lighthouses in the United States. The first permanent lighthouse beside the oldest city in America was built in 1824 and the current lighthouse tower was built in 1874. The daughters of Hezekiah Pity, a man employed on the rebuilding project, were playing around a cart that was used to carry building materials, when tragedy struck. Both girls were drowned when the cart broke loose and slid down the hill. It is said that the laughter of the two girls at play can be heard around the tower at night, and that the ghost of the older girl is said to have been seen, wearing the blue dress and blue hair bow that she was wearing when she died.
The garden next to the tower is said to be haunted by the ghost of the original builder of the Light Station. At least two former lighthouse keepers are said to haunt the tower late at night. A trail of cigar smoke is said to be left by the ghost of lighthouse keeper Joseph Andreu, who died in a fall from the tower in the 1850s.
The island is believed to be haunted by the ghosts of 13 pirates who were buried around the tower. An archaeological team based at the St. Augustine Light Station discovered a number of historic shipwrecks nearby and other maritime remains, including traces of the wooden watchtower that served as Florida's first lighthouse.
It was originally published on Live Science.
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