Happy Halloween from Washington D.C. I’ve been out and about these last few weeks gathering up stories and taking photos of some of Washington’s most haunted locations. It’s been a wonderful jaunt around the city and it’s always great to see things from a different angle. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just some of the places I enjoyed most. Please keep in mind that these are stories and I haven’t gone out of my way to disprove them or check for historical accuracy. Halloween is a day to suspend your disbelief and just enjoy a good ghost story, so enjoy this haunted historical trip around our Nation’s Capital and the surrounding area. Happy Halloween!
Daw’s Fence
Reuben Daw was born in England in 1808 and moved to Georgetown in 1819 where he ran a successful gun store. According to legend, Daw bought surplus guns from the Mexican War at auction in Harpers Ferry to build this fence on the corner of 28th and P. On dark nights, the ghosts of long dead soldiers have been seen inspecting the guns, looking to find the ones that once belonged to them. It’s a great fence and a great story. .
The Walsh-McLean House
After a gold strike in Colorado made him a multi-millionaire, Thomas Walsh moved to Washington and began construction on this 60 room mansion, which was completed in 1903 at a cost of $835,000. His daughter, Evalyn, married Ned McLean, the heir to the Washington Post, in 1908 and the couple lived happily in this house at 2020 Massachusetts Avenue for two years. In 1910, Ned bought his wife the infamous Hope Diamond, and one tragedy after another would befall the McLeans thereafter. The house was purchased for the use of the Indonesian Embassy in 1952. Since then there have been several encounters with a young woman, walking completely nude down the main staircase. The spirit is thought to be that of a young Evalyn McLean, trying to recapture the good days before the Hope Diamond and its curse entered their lives. The diamond is, of course, on display at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum.
The Marine Corps Commandant’s House
The Marine Corps Commandant’s House was built in 1806 and has served as the home of the leader of the Corps ever since. It is one of the oldest continuously occupied buildings in the city. Many difficult decisions have been made in this house and many young men and women have died as a result of those decisions. In the dark of night, rustling papers are often heard in the house, and the pacing of someone deep in thought have also been heard. Many people have seen the apparition of a uniformed Marine looking out on the parade grounds contemplating life and death. While no one has ever gotten close enough to identify the soldier, some have speculated that it is either Samuel Nicholas, the first Marine Corps Commandant, who never lived in the house, or Archibald Henderson, the fifth Commandant, who did.
Octagon House
Octagon House, completed in 1801, is one of Washington D.C.’s oldest homes. It was built by wealthy Virginia planter John Tayloe III to serve as his city residence and sits just a couple of blocks from the White House. After the British burned Washington during the War of 1812, Octagon House served as the Presidential Mansion for James and Dolley Madison while the White House was being rebuilt. Both John Tayloe and his wife Ann died in Octagon House and their spirits have been heard ringing long-removed bells to summon long-dead servants to their side. The staircases in particular have garnered attention for the sounds of ghostly footsteps, unexplained “cold spots” and vertigo-like feelings of being pushed from behind.
The Lincoln Séance
Mary Todd Lincoln was a believer in the supernatural, and became even more-so after the death of her son Willie in 1862. She often sought out mediums who could connect her to her children on the other side. Two of her most trusted spiritualists, Cranston and Margaret Laurie, lived at 21 First Street in Georgetown, now 3226 N Street. Mrs. Lincoln visited them often, but on February 5th, 1863, her husband called on the Lauries and asked for guidance on the war which was not going as well as he had hoped. The Lauries held a séance with the president and brought forth the spirit of one Doctor Bamford. The spirit told Lincoln his army wasn’t as prepared as it should be and that there was dissent in the ranks. He told the president that he must go to the front lines and meet with the foot soldiers and try and assure them that the war was in their own best interests. Later in the séance, a piano apparently levitated and floated across the room. While there were no spirits haunting this Georgetown home in my research, perhaps the good Doctor is just waiting to be asked for more advice.
The Foxall-McKenny House
Henry Fohall, a wealthy gun foundry owner and former mayor of Georgetown, built this home at 3123 Dunbarton St. in 1800 as a wedding gift for his daughter Mary Ann and her new husband Samuel McKenny. The McKennys lived there happily and had several children and at some point welcomed a house guest from Philadelphia. This young woman was apparently quite a storyteller and when it was time for her to leave, the McKenny’s daughter Henrietta was distraught and asked if she could stay just a little longer. “A little longer” turned into 40 years, and the house guest took on some light housekeeping duties to earn her keep. She was adamant that the children were to be in bed by 10 o’clock sharp as that was the time she ascended to the third floor to extinguish their candles. Since her death, footsteps have been heard on the steps and a young female ghost has been seen on the stairway, headed up just before 10 o’clock. Candles in the house have been said to go out by themselves promptly at 10, and even gas lamps and electric lights have gone out as well. “The 10 O’clock Haunting” is one of Georgetown’s most beloved and oft-told ghost stories.
The 5th Floor at Healy Hall
Healy Hall, the dramatic central building at Georgetown University, looks haunted if any building in Washington does. On a dark and stormy night it looks downright creepy and provided an excellent background for several scenes in The Exorcist. If you were to go into Healy Hall and find an elevator, you could take it to the 4th floor, but not to the 5th. Find a stairway and you’ll find the 5th floor locked up tight. Legend tells of a young student who found a mystical text in the library and brought it to read on the 5th floor of Healy. Reading the ancient Latin out loud as he tried to decipher it, he opened a portal to another dimension. Until the University can find a way to close that portal, the 5th floor is permanently sealed.
The Cutts-Madison House
The Cutts-Madison House, located at 1520 H Street NW, was built in 1818 by Richard Cutts, whose wife Ann was Dolley Madison’s sister. The Cutts lived in the house until 1828 when it was purchased by then former president James Madison.. When her husband died in 1836, Dolley continued to live in the house until her death in 1849. The former first lady was well known for her hospitality and hosted no fewer than eight sitting presidents in this house, along with a steady stream of congressmen and members of Washington society. Over the last 170 years since her death, countless people have reported seeing the ghost of Dolley Madison, in colonial dress, sitting on a rocking chair on the porch and gazing out over the city. Perhaps sometimes she gets restless and goes for a stroll because her ghost has also been seen at the White House, Octagon House (where she once lived), and several other locations around town.
Halcyon House
The United States’ first Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert, built Halcyon House high on the hill overlooking Georgetown and the Potomac River in 1787, making it one of Washington’s oldest homes. His gardens were designed by the city’s designer, Pierre Charles L’enfant. Halcyon House became a central location for Washington’s early elite. Stoddert’s wife, Rebecca Lowndes, died shortly after 1800 and Stoddert’s financial situation began to deteriorate. Two years later he transferred ownership to his daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband Thomas (whose son, Richard Ewell, would later serve as a General in the Confederacy). In 1900, Halcyon House was bought by eccentric Albert Clemens who believed if he continued building onto the house, he would extend his life. Clemens added many strange details like stairways leading nowhere and closets too small to hold anything. Many of the strange exterior features are also attributed to Clemens. The ghost of Benjamin Stoddert is often seen walking the halls, remembering the good times he had in the decade following the house’s construction. Eccentric in life, Albert Clemens is also seen being eccentric in death, and wandering the house looking for new additions to be made.
The Grave of the Female Stranger
The Grave of the Female Stranger is one of the most frequently visited graves in St. Paul’s Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia. The woman, whose true identity is shrouded in mystery, died in Room 8 in nearby Gadsby’s Tavern and was buried here in 1816. According to the headstone, she was placed there by her husband who obviously would have known her identity but chose not to put it on the grave. Her ghost has been reported peering from Room 8 at Gadsby’s. The inscription on the grave marker reads “To the memory of a Female Stranger whose mortal sufferings terminated on the 14th day of October 1816 Aged 23 years and 8 months. This stone was placed here by her disconsolate Husband in whose arms she sighed out her last breath and who under God did his utmost even to soothe the cold dead ear of death.”