Today’s post is by John LeGloahec, Archivist in the Electronic Records Division at the National Archives in College Park, MD.
Soon it will be All Hallows Eve and that sound you hear may be a spirit coming to visit you on the one day of the year when spirits get a “free pass” to come out and say hello, or BOO! There are a small number of properties that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places that are considered “haunted” and / or may have ghosts associated with them. Evidently, it doesn’t do so well for one’s historic status to have a haunted status associated with it – although it’s a plus with this author. There are also a number of properties that double as “haunted houses at Halloween, run by local Elks Clubs or other civic organizations. The National Archives Foundation took a look at some properties and I will also add a few of them here in today’s post.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania stands Eastern State Penitentiary (National Archives Identifier 71994379), “which was built to apply the Pennsylvania System of imprisonment, served as a model for numerous other prisons throughout the world. Although of limited influence in the United States, the prison and the Pennsylvania System influenced, and continue to influence, penological practices in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.”
“The cornerstone was placed on May 22, 1823, and the first prisoner was admitted on October 25, 1829. Previous to the laying of the cornerstone, the commission had selected a site of a little over 10 acres in size about two and a half miles northwest of City Hall. As construction proceeded, the great front wall arose, 30 feet high, 12 feet thick at the base, and 670 feet long. In the center, was the main administration building, dominated by two fifty-foot towers. Behind the forbidding front arose the cell blocks. The first cell blocks were one-story and held 38 cells each. Subsequently, as a result of increasing the capacity of the prison from 250 to 400, the remaining four cell blocks each had two-stories.” “Dark energy is rumored to be locked in the prison, which has been named one of America’s most haunted places and now operates as a museum. Infamous prisoner Al Capone reported nightly hauntings by a victim of his St. Valentine’s Day massacre. Modern day investigators and visitors report sightings of shadow figures walking through cell blocks. They’ve also heard whispering, giggling, and crying without ever finding a source and being touched by cold hands, only to turn around and find no one there.” https://archivesfoundation.org/newsletter/americas-most-haunted/
In Richmond, Virginia, Grace Hospital (National Archives Identifier 41683217), “occupies a gently sloping, one-half acre corner lot . . . Designed by noted architect Charles M. Robinson and constructed in 1911, Grace Hospital is an excellent surviving example of Colonial Revival (sometimes referred to as Georgian Revival) architectural style.”
“The Commonwealth of Virginia is preeminent in the history of progressive health-care in America. The first hospital in the New World was constructed following the settlement of Citie of Henricus in 1611Virginia was also home to the first asylum for the insane and the first operational pharmacy. Numerous “firsts” in surgical procedures are recorded in the comprehensive medical history Medicine in Virginia, completed in three volumes by Wyndham B. Blanton in 1933. The first nursing school in Virginia, the second to be founded in the United States, was located in Richmond. In continuity with this history of “firsts”, Grace Hospital was the first fire-proof hospital to be constructed in Richmond.”
Grace Hospital is significant for various historical associations. Not only was it the first fire-proof hospital in Richmond, but it was considered to be one of the most modern hospitals in the Commonwealth . . . On a parenthetical note. Major James Dooley, prominent developer and philanthropist of Richmond, died at Grace Hospital on November 16,1922. The Richmond Vampire, believed to be the ghost of a William Wortham Poole who died in the collapse of the Church Hill Tunnel in 1925, was treated but died from his injuries at Grace Hospital.
In Charleston, South Carolina, the Dock Street Theatre is a “three-story brick building complex, now owned and leased by the city of Charleston, [which] was formerly owned by Alexander Calder and known as the Planters’ Hotel. Built on (or next to) the site of the original 1734-1737 Dock Street Theatre, one part of the former hotel has been transformed into a theatre for the public . . . The Dock Street Theatre is an excellent example of a historic building being usefully adapted to meet the needs of the city while preserving visual evidence of our past. Once known as the Planters’ Hotel, the Dock Street Theatre building complex is the last surviving antebellum hotel building in Charleston. The theatre has been refurbished to represent the theatre of the 18th Century and is used today to promote theatrical interest within the city.”
“The Dock Street Theater was America’s first theater, opening in 1736. After being destroyed by Charleston’s Great Fire in 1740, the building was erected again in 1809, and reopened as Plantar’s Hotel . . . Frequent guests included a traveling theater group, the most famous among them being Junius Brutus Booth—father of actor Edwin Booth and Lincoln’s assassin John Wilkes Booth. He became infamous at the Plantar’s Hotel after getting into a near-death altercation with the manager . . . Since then, ghosts have taken the stage. Junius Booth apparently haunts the halls and theater. But a spirit with far more claim to the building is Nettie Dickerson, an impoverished girl who frequented Plantar’s Hotel looking for love in the early 1800s. But even after spending her savings on a stunning red dress, she was never accepted by the upper crust of Charleston. She was last seen on the second-floor balcony before she was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning. Guests and workers today say they see Nettie walking the hotel, still wearing her red dress.” https://archivesfoundation.org/newsletter/americas-most-haunted/
In the small mill village of Calais, Vermont is the North Calais Village Historic District (National Archives Identifier 84285812), which is “situated in the northern portion of the Town of Calais, which is in northeastern Washington County, located in north central Vermont, roughly seventeen miles from the state capital of Montpelier. The town of Calais is six miles square and contains 23,040 acres.” The District contains more than 40 properties that “are predominantly vernacular Greek Revival, gable roofed, 1½ story clapboarded structures set close to, and facing, the road. Several buildings, including the tavern and a store, and all the industrial structures have been lost since the end of the period of significance.”
The Herman Marsh House, circa 1875, located at 25 Foster Hill Road, is a “vernacular Greek Revival style house [with] simple corner boards, an entablature and cornice returns along with a wide, flat front door surround with molded entablature surmounted by a pediment added c. 1985 . . . This building does not appear on the 1858 Walling map or 1873 Beers map and is one of the later buildings built in the village. In 1878 it was the home of Herman D. Marsh, who probably built the house. Marsh bought the sawmill next door in 1874 and added a shop to manufacture caskets and coffins. Legend has it that the house is haunted by the ghost of Jerry Lunge who had his nose bitten off by a horse and the nose was replaced with a rubber one. The 1910 census recorded that he was 54, French Canadian and a farm laborer. He had been married to his wife, Ella, for 23 years. They raised and sold poodles. Ella ran off with Howard Sandman, the stage driver and mailman. She took her poodles and moved into his house at the other end of the village.”
Now sitting in dry dock in Long Beach, California, the RMS Queen Mary (National Archives Identifier 123859461) is a “1930’s, three funneled steel passenger liner. She is 1,012 feet long, has a gross tonnage of 81,237 tonnes, a moulded breadth of 118 feet, has a height of 181 feet from her keel to the top of her forward funnel and has three funnels of an elliptical shape, measuring 36 feet fore and aft, 23 feet wide, and between 62 and 71 feet high.”
“The RMS Queen Mary was built in 1926, but the Great Depression delayed her first voyage until 1936. The ship served as a lavish vacation site for the rich while as well as overseas transportation for immigrants. Since the quality of the accommodations matched one’s social class, the Queen Mary was a microcosm of society.”
“The Queen Mary’s luxury days ended when she was conscripted into service during World War II. Luxury furnishings were stripped away to transport hundreds of soldiers—she carried more than 800,000 soldiers on 72 trips from America to Sydney, Australia, and Gourock, Scotland. After the war, she became stationary and was converted into a hotel.”
“So who’s haunting the high seas? In her years at sea, the Queen Mary had 49 deaths aboard. One was the particularly gruesome death of a crew member crushed by Hatch Door #13. His ghost is said to be roaming the area, and guests and workers have heard him whistling or asking for a wrench. In state rooms, people have had covers pulled off them at night and see realistic figures that then fade away. Beds are made and unmade, lights that were off turn on, and water starts running on its own. Guests also feel cold spots or people brushing against them, even when they’re alone.” https://archivesfoundation.org/newsletter/americas-most-haunted/
The Seven Stars Tavern (National Archive Identifier 135815771) is located in Woodstown, New Jersey and was “built in 1762 by Peter Lauterback (later Louderback), [and] is a 2 1/2 story brick dwelling. The facade, rear, and one side wall all exhibit Flemish bond brickwork with glazed headers. The other side wall (southern) has common bond brickwork with the initials “P L E” and the date “1762” in glazed headers. The initials stand for Peter and Elizabeth Louderback. The north wall also has a date plaque so that the date is visible on two sides. The house has a stone foundation, two inside and chimneys, brick hoodmolds over the windows, and a small first floor window that permitting coachmen to be served from the bar without dismounting.”
“The Seven Stars Tavern also has local significance for its relationship to Revolutionary events. John Louderback, a son of Peter’s, lived in the Tavern during the Revolutionary War and obtained a local reputation as a fervent patriot. On various occasions he provided local regiments with food and information. For these activities, the British placed a price on his head. On one occasion in 1778, a small British party raided the tavern in search of Peter. He had, however, received advance warning and managed to escape with his family.”
“The tavern has also become the focus of several ghost stories. In his Old Inns and Taverns of West Jersey, Charles S. Boyer states that “probably more ghost stories are woven around the old Seven Stars Tavern than any similar building in the state.” At least three separate tales persist about the tavern. One of the legends attributes the ghost to Peter Louderback who is keeping watch over his buried treasure. Another tells of the tavern being haunted by a river pirate whose head was twisted around by the Devil after a visit to the tavern. The final story, which may have been an actual occurrence, claims that the tavern is haunted by a local Tory alleged to have been hanged from a third floor window in the tavern.”
In the shadow of the Rocky Mountains in Estes Park, Colorado is the Stanley Hotel Historic District (National Archives Identifier 84131406), which “consists of twelve buildings Including the Stanley Hotel, the Manor House, Stanley Hall, and the Carriage House. It also includes open land around the buildings which historically has been associated with the site . . . The Stanley Hotel, one of the important early mountain resorts in north central Colorado, is both a monument to its builder, F.O. Stanley, and an architectural landmark in the Estes Park area. In addition, the hotel played an important role in the growth of the tourist trade in that area. F.O. Stanley was born in 1849 in Kingston, Maine. He and his twin brother Francis were engineers with a number of inventions to their credit. Perhaps the most important was the photographic dry plate process which permitted film to be made available in rolls Instead of the cumbersome wet plate process and thus opened the way for the simple box cameras of today. This invention was sold to George Eastman who helped found the Eastman Kodak Company.”
“In 1903, inventor and entrepreneur F. O. Stanley was dying of tuberculosis, and doctors said he had three months to live. In an attempt to prolong his life, he moved to Colorado, where the dry mountain air worked wonders. He opened the Stanley Hotel in 1909, and it became a shining example of luxury with its electricity and bathrooms. Stanley himself lived there another 37 years.
Famous guests included band leader John Phillip Sousa, Molly Brown, Theodore Roosevelt, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan. Oh, and Stephen King.”
“As the author and his wife slept in room 217, a series of nightmares forced King awake. Sleepless, he spent the night writing what became The Shining. King may have been sharing that room with someone who never clocked out from work. A gas leak at the hotel in 1911 caused an explosion when chambermaid Elizabeth Wilson entered that same room 217 with a lit candle. Miraculously, she survived and worked at the hotel until 1950. But guests say that she’s still around, making their beds and folding clothes.”
“The fourth floor is reported to be particularly creepy. One staff member became suddenly ill there, room 401 is occupied by a malevolent male presence, and guests share room 428 with a cowboy that stares at them while they sleep. Giggling children are heard throughout, and the ghost of a former pastry chef is said to haunt the servants’ passageways, leaving behind the smell of baked goods. F. O. Stanley and his wife are also seen—Stanley at the bar or billiard table and Flora at the piano.” https://archivesfoundation.org/newsletter/americas-most-haunted/
In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is the Carey Place Historic District (National Archives Identifier 86511682), which “consists of one unusually narrow lane with houses and duplexes constructed in the 1930s on shallow, wide lots. The 36 buildings are of brick, stone, or stucco, usually painted white, and are mostly of Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival style . . . Carey Place was built on the right-of-way of a never-constructed interurban railroad; it is flanked by the Gatewood Addition, where most houses were built in the Tudor Revival style, five to fifteen years earlier. The district is located about three miles northwest of downtown Oklahoma City.”
The property located at “1901 Carey Place, the Woolf, Jess A., House. C. 1937 is a two-story, painted stone Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival residence with a cross gabled composition roof . . . There are steel casement windows and stone sills, and shutters with hatchet cutouts – the hatchet silhouettes have spurred an urban legend (which draws the curious at Halloween) that the house
is haunted by the ghost of an ax-murdered girl. Jess Woolf and his wife lived in the house from its construction until the 1980s.”
Other properties worth a “haunting” look include the William Hayden House in Vermont (National Archives Identifier 84285567), “To this day, it is said that the house is haunted by the Hayden ancestors.” Or the Howell House in Escondido, California (National Archives Identifier 123860888), which after the “house was vacant and an Escondido legend came into being when people thought the house was haunted, for people claimed they heard things when they went by the outside.” There’s the John Wilson House (National Archives Identifier 132355964) in Griswold, Connecticut, which may be haunted, but the residents deem the spirit to be “friendly.” In Payette, Idaho is the Grant Whitney House (National Archives Identifier 84251057), where Mr. Whitney built the home for his new bride – however, he found her with a younger lover and he killed the man – as a result the home attained the reputation of being haunted.
You could also tour the Winchester Mystery House (National Archives Identifier 123861826) in San Jose, the home of Sarah Pardee Winchester, the widow of William Wirt Winchester, who was “the son of the manufacturer of the famous Winchester Repeating Rifle.” Sarah and William’s child died and then fifteen years later, William died. “Mrs. Winchester was deeply upset at these deaths, and seems to have consulted a spiritualistic medium who told her that the reason for her husband’s and daughter’s deaths was that the victims who had been killed by the rifles her family had and was still manufacturing, were seeking their revenge by taking her husband’s and daughter’s lives. Further, they had placed a curse on Mrs. Winchester stating that if she wished to continue to live, she must appease them by moving out west and continuously without ceasing, build a home for them night and day.”
Happy Halloween Everyone!
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring records from the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 – 2017 (National Archives ID 20812721), a series within Record Group 79: Records of the National Park Service.