Historic Ghosts and Haunted Places

Even though we’re a relatively young country by the world’s standards, our history has been filled with plenty of drama and trauma to encourage many a ghost to keep haunting some key areas. Let’s review the list on this Independence Day:

Ghosts of the Famous and Infamous

Benjamin Franklin: Our Ben has reportedly been seen since the late 1800s near the library of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA. Some have said they’ve even seen the statue of Franklin in front of the same building come to life and dance.

Abraham Lincoln: The ghost of our 16th President Abraham Lincoln is the most frequently reported specter seen in the White House in Washington, DC. In addition, he has reportedly been seen walking near the old Springfield capitol building and his nearby law offices. Visitors to the White House, including first ladies, queens, and prime ministers, have seen or felt the ghost of Lincoln. He seems to have been particularly active there during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, during another crisis in our nation, the second world war.

Peter Stuyvesant: He was New York city’s last Dutch colonial governor and people claim to see him roaming around the East Village of New York. He’s been seen ever since his death in 1672.

Mark Twain: America’s beloved writer and commentator is believed to walk the stairwell of his Village apartment building, also in New York city.

Dylan Thomas: This poet has occasionally been seen sitting at his usual corner table at the West Village’s White Horse Tavern. He was sitting there when, in 1953, he fatally drank 18 shots of scotch.

Aaron Burr: Burr was the vice president under Thomas Jefferson but is best remembered for his traitorous behavior. He dueled with Alexander Hamilton in 1804 and killed him. Burr’s ghost is said to roam the West Village, his old neighborhood.  One restaurant in the area, One if By Land, Two if By Sea, claims that he appears there fairly regularly because it was once his carriage house.

Haunted Historical Places

Civil War Battlefields: Perhaps the most haunted areas in the country, the battlefields of the Civil War seem to  provide the most evidence of life after death. Countless stories have been told about people seen there who later disappeared. Sounds of marching troops, firing of guns and cannons, phantom smells of smoke and blood – these places have it all. Gettysburg is the hotspot for these haunting given the history that transpire there.  If you go, bring a camera and take lots of photos – people often catch images of ghosts that they couldn’t see with their eyes.

HMS Queen Mary: This ship was build in 1936, part of the Cunard-White Star Line. The ship was retired shoreside in Long Beach, CA in 1967. There, it was converted into a luxury hotel and resort – a far cry from its history during World War II when it was conscripted to work in and for the British Royal Navy.

Over the years (since 1967) over 50 ghost sightings have occurred there. In addition, unexplained sounds and voices are often heard, and phantom smells detected. One crew member reported seeing the ghost of Winston Churchill in the prime minister’s old stateroom aboard the ship. Other activity has been reported around the ship’s swimming pool.

Share Your Stories!

No matter where you go around these United States, and indeed even around the whole world, there seem to be places that are especially haunted due to whatever trauma and misery occurred there. These are just a few of the places in the US reported to be haunted. It would be impossible to cover them all in one little blog.

Have you been somewhere else that claims to be haunted too? Please share your stories with us! There’s a page at the top of the blog called “Your Stories” just for that purpose.

Til the next time!

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