Ghostly Happenings in Virginia

Floating Ghosts and Crying Ghosts

Situated in Surrey, Bacon’s Castle was built in 1665 and is the oldest brick home in the US. The house got its name in 1676 when Nathaniel Bacon’s supporters took control of it during their uprising. Later, during the Civil War, Union forces took over the property. Owners and servants have perished here for centuries, many under unexplained circumstances.

The places with the most paranormal activity are the main stairway and the upper bedrooms. Visitors have seen a translucent person floating up the stairs, odd lights in the windows, and seen and heard a woman in historical attire crying.

Preservation Virginia operates the museum, which offers historical and ghost tours.

Paranormal Activity

Since its opening in 1927, the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach has attracted presidents and celebrities and has a lengthy history of tragedy. During the Prohibition, bootleggers utilized it and in the 1920s, a visitor died after falling from a high window.

Among the strange happenings here is the ghost of a man who drowned in the pool. Employees hear laughter and splashing in the empty water.

On the fifth floor lights flicker, murmurs are heard, and guests can smell cigar smoke.

Other guests have heard soft piano music from an empty ballroom.

Meet the Lady in White

At the location of a 17th-century ferry dock where passengers perished in shipwrecks, Virginia Beach’s Ferry Plantation House was constructed in 1830. It is situated above the remains of a previous manor that inexplicably burned down. The home is associated with Grace Sherwood, the notorious Witch of Purigo, from Virginia, who was found guilty in 1706.

After a terrible fall a young woman passed away here. The busiest paranormal spot is the stairwell, where visitors often feel unseen hands pushing and tugging them. The alleged landing is where the Lady in White has been seen.

For a modest fee, history tours and seasonal ghost tours are available.

Ghosts in Medieval Attire

The location of the first English settlers’ arrival in 1607 is marked by Virginia Beach’s First Landing State Park. Shipwrecks, pirate mythology, and missing passengers abound along its coast.

Blackbeard the pirate is said to have hidden riches along these coastlines. Over the years, innumerable sailors have perished in these waters.

The most haunted trail is the Cape Henry Trail, where hikers have seen shadows darting through the trees and felt eyes watching them. There have been reports of phantom lights along the dunes and ghostly settlers in medieval attire.

A Cemetery With Paranormal Activity

Two American presidents and over 18,000 Confederate soldiers are buried in Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery. Its river cliffs and Gothic monuments, dating back to 1847, are unsettling even during the day.

The W.W. Pool tomb, associated with the Richmond Vampire Tale, is the most dreaded location. It was reported that a bloodied figure disappeared into this crypt in 1925 after escaping a tunnel collapse.

A sobbing statue over a child’s burial site and phantom troops among the tombs have been heard and seen by visitors.

Ghostly Soldiers and a Woman Dressed in Blue

One of the most haunted places in Colonial Williamsburg is the Peyton Randolph House built in 1715. It was once home to the first president of the Continental Congress. During the Revolution the house was a hospital where many wounded soldiers died and enslaved people lived, worked, and suffered here.

The most active paranormal spots are the upstairs bedrooms. Visitors have felt cold spots, felt tugging hands, and experienced sudden dizziness. Among the ghostly apparitions have been a soldier in colonial uniform and a woman dressed in blue.

Shadowy Figures

Constructed in 1725 for the wealthy Page family, Rosewell Plantation near Gloucester was once one of the largest homes in the South. Skeletal brick ruins were all that remained after a terrible fire in 1916. Over the centuries, slaves, laborers, and family members all perished on the property and are still there among the remains.

The most active areas are the cellar and remaining arches, where visitors can see shadowy figures and experience unexpected chills. Some claim to have heard ghostly noises and sensed the smell of burning.

Self-guided tours of the remains are permitted from sunrise till dusk with sporadic paranormal tours.

Shadowy Figures and the Sounds of Screaming

Before transforming into a mental health facility in 1916, Radford’s St. Albans Sanatorium started off as a tough boys’ school in 1892. When it became a sanatorium, patients suffered from lobotomies, electric shock therapy, and other cruel procedures.

Visitors have seen shadow figures, felt unseen hands grasping or shoving people, and disembodied screams have given everyone a fright.

The most horrifying places are the old electroshock chambers and the basement, which are filled with bodily sensations and electromagnetic field spikes.

The most common ghostly presence seen is that of a tall shadow man.