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The United States Capitol, one of many places inWashington said to be haunted

Reportedly haunted locations in the District of ColumbiaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are a number of reportedly haunted locations in Washington, D.C. The cityis the capital of the United States, and was founded (pursuant to an Act ofCongress) on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separatemunicipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871effectively merged George Town, the City of Washington, and the Territory ofColumbia into a single entity called the District of Columbia. Washington, D.C.,has been the site of military battles, deadly duels, assassinations, untimely deaths,and associated tragedies.

Washington's haunted history is so well known that some of its haunted locationswere featured in a 2006 documentary, America's Haunted Houses, on the A&Ecable network. Novelist Dan Brown mentioned them prominently in his 2009novel, The Lost Symbol. Notable purportedly haunted locations include the UnitedStates Capitol, Capitol Hill, the White House, Lafayette Square, and nearbybuildings, Independence Avenue SW, The Octagon House, Chinatown, the National Theatre, Hay–Adams Hotel, Woodrow Wilson House,Omni Shoreham Hotel, and many others.

The United States Capitol is reputedly haunted by many past representatives of the United States House of Representatives and governmentofficials, officers who served during the American Revolutionary War, workers who died during its construction and a "demon black cat" thatis said to make appearances just before national tragedies or changes in Presidential administration. A very high number of apparitions ofdeceased American presidents have been reported in the White House, the most famous of which is Abraham Lincoln, reported even by laterpresidents such as Harry S. Truman, and apparitions of presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and John Tyler have all been witnessed,as have the spirits of many First Ladies.

The President's Park, Lafayette Park and nearby buildings are reported to be home to ghosts such as Philip Barton Key II and Stephen Decaturwho died there following pistol duels. The Octagon is supposedly one of the most haunted buildings in D.C., with sightings of its pastoccupants and African American slaves who once worked there. The National Theatre is said to be haunted by the ghost of actor JohnMcCullough, who was murdered in the 1880s by a fellow thespian. Hay–Adams Hotel is claimed to be host to the ghost of Marian "Clover"Hooper Adams, the wife of Henry Brooks Adams, the celebrated 19th­century American journalist, historian and novelist, who was thegrandson of John Quincy Adams, and the Woodrow Wilson House is allegedly haunted by former president Woodrow Wilson himself who

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spent his final years in illness there before dying in his bedroom in 1924. Houses in the Georgetown area of the city are reported to be hauntedby figures from colonial times, including slaves, merchants and children. Staff and guests of the Omni Shoreham Hotel have told of stories offaint voices, cold breezes, and doors slamming shut and opening and televisions and lights turning on and off of their own accord.

Contents

1 Capitol Hill

1.1 The Capitol

1.2 Capitol Hill2 White House and the President's Park

2.1 White House

2.1.1 Abraham Lincoln

2.1.2 Other presidents

2.1.3 Non­residents

2.2 President's Park and nearby buildings3 Downtown

3.1 The Octagon House

3.2 Independence Avenue SW

3.3 Chinatown

3.4 National Theatre and National Building Museum

3.5 Hay­Adams Hotel4 Dupont Circle

4.1 Walsh Mansion

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4.2 Woodrow Wilson House

5 Georgetown

6 Uptown

7 See also

8 References

9 External links

Capitol Hill

The Capitol

The United States Capitol is considered one of the most haunted buildings in Washington.[1][2] The first apparition to be seen there was in the1860s as the Capitol was being completed.[3] Several spirits are said to haunt the Capitol due to tragedies associated with its construction. Onesuch ghost is said to be that of a worker who died after a fall during the construction of the rotunda, and who now is occasionally seen floatingbeneath the dome carrying a tray of woodworking tools.[3] Another spirit is allegedly a stonemason who died (crushed to death beneath a wallwhich collapsed, or murdered by a co­worker) and is seen in the Old Senate chambers or passing through a wall in the basement beneath theSenate.[4]

Many politicians with strong personalities and a powerful attachment to the institution of Congress are reputed still to roam the halls ofCongress long after their deaths. The shades of Representative Joseph Cannon (R­Ill. and Speaker from 1903 to 1911) and Rep. Champ Clark(D­Mo. and Speaker from 1911 to 1919) are claimed to occasionally return to the dark chamber of the House of Representatives after midnightand, after a loud rap from a gavel, resume the strong, angry debates they once had in life.[2] Members of the United States Capitol Police haveclaimed to have seen Senator (and from 1852 to 1854, Representative) Thomas Hart Benton sitting at a desk in National Statuary Hall,although it has not been used as a legislative chamber since 1857.[5][6] Steve Livengood, chief tour guide for the United States CapitolHistorical Society, says he has seen the ghost of former Representative Wilbur Mills (D­Ark.) near Mills' former office late at night.[7] PierreCharles L'Enfant, although not a politician, was a brevet Major during the American Revolutionary War who served with George Washingtonat Valley Forge.[8] In 1791, L'Enfant was appointed architect and planner of the new city of Washington in the District of Columbia.[8]

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National Statuary Hall, said to behaunted by a number of formermembers of Congress

Although L'Enfant submitted grandiose plans for the new capital city, his plans were never fullyadopted and President Washington dismissed him.[8] L'Enfant spent much of the rest of his lifeattempting to wrest a monetary payment from Congress, and he died in poverty in 1825.[8]Eyewitnesses, however, claim to have seen his spirit walking through the Capitol, head down,murmuring to himself, with the plans for the capital city tucked under his arm.[9]

The Capitol has also been witness to murder and death. Rep. William P. Taulbee had been acongressman from Kentucky from 1884 to 1888.[10] Charles E. Kincaid, a journalist for The LouisvilleTimes, had accused Taulbee of adultery and involvement in a Patent Office scandal, which had ruinedTaulbee's political career.[10] On February 28, 1890, the ex­congressman and the reporter ran into oneanother in the Capitol, and Taulbee assaulted and embarrassed Kincaid by tweaking the much smallerman's nose.[10] Kincaid ran home, grabbed a pistol, and, when he encountered Taulbee on a marblestaircase leading from the House chamber down to the dining room, shot him in the face just belowTaulbee's left eye.[10] Taulbee died two weeks later, and Kincaid was acquitted after claiming self­defense.[10] The steps where Taulbee was shot still contain the bloodstains.[10] Journalists and others claim that whenever a reporter slips onthese steps, Taulbee's ghost briefly appears.[11] Former President and then­Rep. John Quincy Adams suffered a stroke at his desk in the Housechamber on February 21, 1848, and was taken into the Speaker's Room.[12] His physical condition was too precarious to permit him to bemoved, and he died at the Capitol two days later.[12] Many people claim to have heard Adams' ghost denouncing slavery late at night inNational Statuary Hall, and one Congressional staff member claims that by standing in the spot where Adams' desk once stood a person canstill hear the former president's ghostly whisper.[2] James A. Garfield was a member of the House from 1863 to 1881 before assuming thePresidency in March 1881.[13] Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau, a disgruntled office seeker, on July 2, 1881, at 9:30 a.m. as he walkedthrough the Sixth Street Station of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad in Washington, D.C.[13] Garfield died of heart failure brought about byblood poisoning (itself caused by poor medical care) on September 19, 1881, while recuperating at a beach house near Long Branch, NewJersey.[13] Witnesses have seen Garfield's specter walking solemnly through the halls of Congress.[14]

Not all Capitol hauntings are related to people who worked there. The "Demon Cat" is alleged to prowl the halls of Congress, and makeappearances just before a national tragedy or change in Presidential administration.[15] It was first seen in the early part of the 19th century, anda night watchman shot at it in 1862.[1] It has also been seen by other night watchmen and members of the Capitol Police.[16] It appeared beforethe assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the October 1929 stock market crash, and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.[7]

The cat has not only been seen in the halls, but has repeatedly appeared in Washington's Tomb.[17] The Tomb (two levels below the cryptbeneath the Capitol Rotunda) was an original feature of the Capitol, planned as a resting place for George Washington and members of hisfamily.[18] The Washington family politely declined the offer.[18] The Tomb stands empty, although from 1865 to 2009 (when it was moved to

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Commandant's House atthe Marine CorpsBarracks, allegedlyhaunted by the ghost ofthe first Commandant ofthe U.S. Marine Corps

the United States Capitol Visitor Center) the Lincoln catafalque was stored there.[18] The specters of at least two soldiers are also said to hauntthe Capitol. A few eyewitnesses have claimed that whenever an individual lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda, a World War I doughboymomentarily appears, salutes, then disappears.[17] A second apparition, which eyewitnesses say is the ghost of an American Revolutionary Warsoldier, has also appeared at the Washington Tomb. According to several stories, the soldier appears, moves around the Lincoln catafalque,and then passes out the door into the hallway before disappearing.[3]

Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill is one of the largest and most densely populated neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. It is bounded byF Street NE on the north and Southeast/Southwest Freeway on the south. The U.S. Capitol marks its westernboundary, while the Anacostia River is its eastern limit. Although Capitol Hill has been home to many of the city'spowerful, its hauntings appear to be few. One ghost, however, is said to haunt First Street NE. Joseph Holt wasJudge Advocate General of the United States Army from 1862 to 1875.[19] He presided over the trials of theLincoln assassination conspirators.[19] During the trials, accused conspirators Dr. Samuel Mudd (who treated JohnWilkes Booth's broken leg) and Mary Surratt (at whose downtown boarding house the conspirators met) were heldat the Old Capitol Prison opposite the U.S. Capitol (the modern day United States Supreme Court Building standson the site today).[20][21] After Holt retired, he allegedly became a recluse in his Capitol Hill home.[22] Althoughthe Holt house no longer exists, local residents have told stories of Holt's ghost walking down First Street NE in ablue suit and cape, pondering the guilt of Mudd and Surrat as he heads for the site of the Old Capitol Prison.[22]

Capitol Hill's other hauntings are associated with the two military installations in that part of the city. At theofficial residence of the Commandant of the Marine Corps Barracks and Parade Ground on 8th Street SE, there arestories which talk about rustling papers, the sound of a man pacing, and the appearance of the ghostly image ofSamuel Nicholas, the first Commandant of the Marine Corps.[23] At the nearby Washington Navy Yard at 8thStreet SE and M Street SE, the ghost of Commodore Thomas Tingey is said to stare out of the upper windows of

the Tingey House (the traditional residence of the Commander of the Navy Yard).[24] Local residents and press reports also tell stories about"Old Howard," a cantankerous former U.S. Marine who lived in the 1860s in a two­story house between G and I Streets SE who now haunts it,harassing the occupants and acting much like a poltergeist.[17]

White House and the President's Park

White House

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The East Room of the White House,where Abigail Adams once hung herlaundry and where her spirit may stillappear

Abraham Lincoln

The White House is the oldest building on President's Park. An integral part of the planned city that isWashington, D.C., a design was chosen and construction begun in 1792, and the building (althoughunfinished) was opened for occupancy on November 1, 1800.[25] The first people to occupy thebuilding were President John Adams and his wife, Abigail.[25] Parts of the mansion were unfinished,including the cavernous East Room.[26] With no running water (it was not installed until 1834), waterhad to be brought into the house by jug and heated for bathing or laundry to be done.[27] Abigail Adamsoften hung the family's laundry up to dry in the drafty East Room.[26] The ghost of Abigail Adams hasbeen seen since shortly after her death in 1818, arms extended as if she were still carrying laundry intothe East Room, accompanied by the smell of soap or damp clothing.[5] Household staff in the Taftadministration even observed her walking through walls.[28]

Abraham Lincoln

The White House's most famous alleged apparition is that ofAbraham Lincoln. Eleanor Roosevelt never admitted to havingseen Lincoln's ghost, but did say that she felt his presencerepeatedly throughout the White House.[29] Mrs. Roosevelt also said that the family dog, Fala, wouldsometimes bark for no reason at what she felt was Lincoln's ghost.[14] President Dwight Eisenhower'spress secretary, James Hagerty,[3] and Liz Carpenter, press secretary to First Lady Lady BirdJohnson,[4] both said they felt Lincoln's presence many times. The former president's footsteps are alsosaid to be heard in the hall outside the Lincoln Bedroom.[14] As reputable an eyewitness as LillianRogers Parks admitted in her autobiography My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House that shehad heard them.[30] Margaret Truman, daughter of President Harry S. Truman, said she heard a specterrapping at the door of the Lincoln Bedroom when she stayed there, and believed it was Lincoln.[4]President Truman himself was once wakened by raps at the door while spending a night in the LincolnBedroom.[31] Others have actually seen an apparition of the former president. The first person reportedto have actually seen Lincoln's spirit was First Lady Grace Coolidge, who said she saw the ghost ofLincoln standing at a window in the Yellow Oval Room staring out at the Potomac.[14] WinstonChurchill,[32] Theodore Roosevelt,[33] and Maureen Reagan and her husband[34] have all claimed tohave seen a spectral Lincoln in the White House. A number of staff members of the Franklin D.

Roosevelt administration claimed to have seen Lincoln's spirit,[4] and on one occasion Roosevelt's personal valet ran screaming from the WhiteHouse claiming he had seen Lincoln's ghost.[3] Perhaps the most famous incident was in 1942 when Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands

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Willie Lincoln, who diedin the White Houseduring his father'spresidency.

heard footsteps outside her White House bedroom and answered a knock on the door, only to see Lincoln in frock coat and top hat standing infront of her (she promptly fainted).[35] Several unnamed eyewitnesses have claimed to have seen the shade of Abraham Lincoln actually lyingdown on the bed in the Lincoln Bedroom (which was used as a meeting room at the time of his administration), and others have seen Lincolnsit on the edge of the bed and put his boots on.[14] The most famous eyewitness to the latter was Mary Eben, Eleanor Roosevelt's secretary,who saw Lincoln pulling on his boots (after which she ran screaming from the room).[29][36]

The last sighting of Lincoln's ghost was in the early 1980s, when Tony Savoy, White House operations foreman, came into the White Houseand saw Lincoln sitting in a chair at the top of some stairs.[35]

Abraham Lincoln is not the only Lincoln ghost witnesses claim to have seen in the White House. Willie Lincoln,Abraham Lincoln's 11­year­old son, died in the White House of typhoid on February 20, 1862.[37] Willie Lincoln'sghost was first seen in the White House by staff members of the Grant administration in the 1870s, but hasappeared as recently as the 1960s (President Lyndon B. Johnson's college­age daughter, Lynda Bird JohnsonRobb, saw the ghost and claims to have talked to him).[4]

Other presidents

Other presidents, as well as First Ladies, are also said to haunt the White House. Witnesses in the past twocenturies have reported that Thomas Jefferson can be heard playing his violin in the Yellow Oval Room.[23]

President Andrew Jackson is said to be seen lying on what is thought to be his old bed [38] in the Queens' Bedroom(also known as the Rose Room), and his guttural laugh has been heard in the White House since the beginning ofthe 1860s.[39] First Lady press secretary Liz Carpenter heard the laugh and swore it was Jackson's,[3] and MaryTodd Lincoln claimed to have heard the stomping and swearing of an invisible presence which she claimed wasthe uncouth Jackson.[40] White House seamstress Lillian Rogers Parks said she was sewing in the Queen'sBedroom and felt a presence, cold air, and then a hand on the back of her chair.[30] She quickly left the room, and for the rest of her time in theWhite House she refused to enter the room again without at least one other person accompanying her.[30] The spirit of William HenryHarrison, it is claimed, haunts the attic,[36] and President John Tyler allegedly haunts the Blue Oval Room.[17] First Lady Frances FolsomCleveland, who was married to President Grover Cleveland in the White House's Blue Room in 1886,[41] is widely claimed to haunt the roomwhere she was married and was seen there after her death in 1947.[30]

Non­residents

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Decatur House on Lafayette Square,showing the bricked­up window outof which the ghost of StephenDecatur is said to stare

The White House is also said to be visited by three specters who did not live there. The first is that of David Burns, who owned the ground onwhich the White House stands before selling it to the federal government in May 1791, and whose spirit has been seen in Oval Office.[4] Areporter told a security guard during the Truman administration that, while standing in the Yellow Oval Room, he heard a faint ghostly voicewhich said, "I'm Mr. Burns."[3] The second spirit is allegedly that of a British soldier dressed in a uniform from the War of 1812 and carrying atorch.[35] In August 1814, a combined British land and sea force captured Washington, D.C., and set fire to the White House, TreasuryBuilding, Capitol, and other buildings in retaliation for the American looting of York, Upper Canada (now the city of Toronto) and the burningof the Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada after the Battle of York in 1813.[42] The fires were put out only when a hurricane and tornadopassed through Washington the following day, extinguishing the blazes.[42] The soldier is claimed to be one of those who burned the WhiteHouse, or who lost his life the following day in the storm. Another shade alleged to visit the White House is the ghost of Anna Surratt,daughter of convicted Lincoln assassination co­conspirator Mary Surratt, who forced her way into the White House the night before hermother's execution and unsuccessfully begged for her mother's life.[21][43] It is claimed by some White House staff that Anna's ghost returns tothe White House every July 6, silently banging on the front door to seek entrance and continue her futile pleas for her mother's life.[22]

President's Park and nearby buildings

President's Park, better known as Lafayette Square, may have its own spectral resident. Philip BartonKey II was the son of Francis Scott Key and the nephew of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney.[44] In thespring of 1858, Key began having an affair with Teresa Bagioli Sickles, the wife of his friend DanielSickles.[45] On February 26, 1859, Sickles learned of the affair.[44] The following day, he saw Key inLafayette Square signalling to his wife.[44] Sickles rushed out into the park, drew a pistol, and shot theunarmed Key three times while the other man pleaded for his life.[44] Key was taken into the nearbyBenjamin Ogle Tayloe House and died moments later.[46] Key's spirit, eyewitnesses and authors claim,now haunts Lafayette Square and can be seen on dark nights near the spot where he was shot.[39]

Decatur House (748 Jackson Place NW) is allegedly haunted by the ghost of Stephen Decatur. In 1820,Commodore James Barron challenged Commodore Decatur to a duel over comments Decatur had maderegarding Barron's conduct in the Chesapeake­Leopard Affair of 1807.[47] The two men duelled onMarch 20, and Decatur was mortally wounded in the stomach.[48] Decatur was rushed back to his home,and died there on March 22.[48] A year after Decatur's death, his ghost reportedly began appearing atthe house—standing in a second floor window looking out at H Street NW or leaving the back door of

the house with a box of dueling pistols.[14] So many witnesses saw the specter of Decatur that the window was walled up.[5] Some people havealso claimed that they can hear his widow, who became hysterical at his death, weeping in the house.[14]

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The west side of the Dolley MadisonHouse, showing the porch (with blackrailing) where the shade of the formerFirst Lady is said to rock on darknights

The Octagon is supposedly one of themost haunted buildings in D.C.

St. John's Episcopal Church (1525 H Street NW), built in 1816, is the second­oldest structure on thePresident's Park.[49] The church has a tradition of a "President's pew," which is reserved for the use ofthe President of the United States.[49] The church's bell was purchased from the Revere Company ofBoston (founded by Joseph Warren Revere, son of Paul Revere) and installed on November 30, 1822(where it remains as of 2009).[49] According to at least two accounts, whenever the bell tolls because ofthe death of a notable person, six ghostly men in white robes appear in the President's pew at midnightand then vanish.[3]

The Cutts­Madison House (721 Madison Place NW),[50] also known as the Dolley Madison House, wasconstructed in 1822 by Richard Cutts, brother­in­law of First Lady Dolley Madison.[51] After ex­President James Madison died in 1836, Dolley Madison took up residency in the house and lived thereuntil her death in 1849.[46] Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes purchased the home in 1851.[52] Wilkesmoved the entrance from Madison Place NW to H Street NW, and turned the porch on the west side ofthe house (facing Madison Place NW) into a window.[46] Witnesses from the mid­19th century onwardhave claimed to have seen the ghost of Dolley Madison rocking in a chair in the space where the porch used to be, smiling at passersby.[31]

Downtown

The Octagon House

The Octagon House (1799 New York Avenue NW) is reported to be the most haunted home in D.C.[53]

It was built in 1801 by Colonel John Tayloe III.[54] The Tayloes were a greatly distinguished Virginiafamily: His grandfather, Colonel John Tayloe (d. 1747), was a member of the King's Council inVirginia and owner of more than 3,000 acres (12 km2) of land (a huge estate at the time), and his father,Colonel John Tayloe II, built the historic Mount Airy manor house in 1758 and was also a member ofthe King's Council.[55] John Tayloe III was a close friend of George Washington's, and Washingtonconvinced Tayloe to build a winter home in the new city of Washington.[54] There is some evidencethat the walled back yard of The Octagon itself may have served as a slave market,[56] and it is well­established that the rear of the building housed the Tayloe family's slaves.[57] The Tayloe family wasexceptionally well­connected, and their home was an important one in the city. After the burning of theWhite House in the War of 1812, President James and Dolley Madison lived there from September1814 to October 1815, and Madison signed the Treaty of Ghent (which ended the war) there in

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February 1815.[58] Apparitions and the presence of otherworldly forces have been seen and felt in many places at The Octagon, including onthe spiral staircase, the second floor landing, the third floor landing, the third floor bedroom, and the garden area in the rear.[59] Among theeyewitnesses have been members of the public, and curators and other employees hired by the museum which owns the house.[17] Two ofColonel Tayloe's daughters are said to haunt The Octagon.[60] The first allegedly died before the War of 1812. Colonel Tayloe and his daughterquarreled on the second floor landing over the girl's relationship with a British officer stationed in the city. When the daughter turned in angerto go down the stairs, she fell down the stairs (or over the railing; stories differ) and died. Her specter is allegedly seen crumpled at the bottomof the steps or on the stairs near the second floor landing, and sometimes exhibits itself as the light of a candle moving up the staircase.[59] Theother death, stories claim, occurred in 1817 or shortly thereafter. Another of Colonel Tayloe's daughters eloped with a young man, incurringher father's wrath. When she returned home to reconcile with her father, they argued on the third­floor landing. This daughter, too, fell to herdeath down the stairs (or over the railing), and her shade is alleged to haunt the third floor landing and stairs between the second and thirdfloors.[39]

The Octagon is also believed by some to be haunted by the spirits of African American slaves who once lived there.[61] When the house heldbells to summon servants, the spirits of the dead slaves would announce their presence by ringing these bells loudly.[62] The ghostly bellringing first occurred in the 1870s. General George D. Ramsay, Chief of Ordnance for the United States Army and commander of theWashington Arsenal in Washington, D.C., was attending a dinner at The Octagon when all the bells in the house began ringing. As MarianGouverneur, wife of Samuel Laurence Gouverneur, Jr. (the first American consul in Foo Chow, China), related the story, General Ramsayseized the bell ropes to stop the bells from sounding, but to everyone's shock they did not stop ringing.[63] Although Gouverneur's report wasnot made until 1911, the mysterious ringing of the bells had been reported in 1874[64] and again in 1889,[62] each time attributed to the spiritsof dead slaves.

Other spirits are also said to remain at The Octagon as well. Dolley Madison's spirit has been seen near the fireplace in the main ballroom aswell as heading through a closed door to the garden, and her ghost's presence is accompanied by the smell of lilacs, her favorite flower.[65] Aslave girl in the house was allegedly thrown from the third floor landing to the first floor below and killed by a British soldier during the Warof 1812, and eyewitnesses have reported hearing her scream.[66] The specter of a British soldier in War of 1812 dress was seen by caretakerJames Cypress in the 1950s, and museum superintendent Alric H. Clay claimed that in the 1960s spirits would often turn on the lights andopen The Octagon's doors late at night.[66] A gambler shot to death in the house's third­floor bedroom in the late 19th century has sometimesbeen seen still in the bed he died in,[14] and ghostly footmen have been seen at the front door waiting to receive guests.[17] He was said to haverung a bell shortly before his death and that the ring of the bell often heard in the house is from him. Various witnesses have also reportedhearing assorted moans, screams, and footsteps.[59]

Independence Avenue SW

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Mary Surratt's boarding house inChinatown, Washington, D.C.

The spirits of slaves are also said to haunt a portion of Independence Avenue SW, the site of two of the city's largest and most notorious slavemarkets. The Yellow House or Williams Slave Pen (at about 800 Independence Avenue SW, now the site of the headquarters of the FederalAviation Administration) was the most notorious slave pen in the capital: A modest, well­maintained, two­story yellow house concealed a verylarge basement in which slaves were chained to walls in windowless rooms, while a 30 square feet (2.8 m2) yard surrounded by a 12­foot(3.7 m) high brick wall provided space for the training and selling of slaves.[67] Another large slave market, the Robey Slave Pen, was just ablock away at the corner of 7th Street SW and Independence Avenue SW.[68] On dark nights, witnesses say they have heard the clinking ofchains and screams on Independence Avenue where these slave pens used to operate.[7][69]

Chinatown

The intersection of 7th Street NW and H Street NW is the heart of D.C.'s Chinatown neighborhoodtoday, but prior to the 1930s it was populated primarily by German immigrants.[70] Before theAmerican Civil War, 7th Street NW was the city's primary commercial district, the street lined withthree­story Federal­style townhouses with shops on the ground floor and residences above.[71] Lincolnconspirator Mary Surratt's boarding house (604 H Street NW) has been substantially renovated throughthe years (and currently houses a Chinese restaurant), but it may also house Mary Surratt's ghost.[3]From the 1870s onward, occupants of the building have claimed that Surratt's spirit is responsible forthe incomprehensible mumbling and whispers, footsteps, muffled sobs, and creaking floorboards whichhave unnerved them.[72]

National Theatre and National Building Museum

At least three other sites in downtown D.C. are also reputed to be haunted. The National Theatre (1321Pennsylvania Avenue NW) opened at its current location on December 7, 1835, although the oldbuilding was torn down and replaced with the current structure in 1923.[73] Nonetheless, some claim thetheater is haunted by the ghost of actor John McCullough, who was murdered in the 1880s by a fellowthespian where the modern stage is located today.[74] The spook was first sighted by Frederic Bond, acomic actor and friend of McCullough's, in September 1896. Bond was on the stage late at nightreviewing preparations for the next day's performance when he felt a spectral presence that terrifiedhim. He then saw a ghostly figure dressed in the traditional garb of the Shakespearean characterHamlet. Recognizing the spirit, he shouted McCullough's name and the ghost vanished.[75] The National Building Museum (401 F Street NW),too, is allegedly haunted. Built in 1887 in order to process pensions for Civil War veterans, widows, and orphans (such pensions consumed aquarter of the federal budget at the time), the "Pension Building" (as it was originally known) contains 15 Corinthian columns made of brick

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and plaster and painted to imitate black onyx.[76] Security guards and other witnesses have claimed that the swirling colors of the columns canchange to form the outlines of people who have recently died, or who had ties to the building.[17] When in use as the headquarters of theSuperior Court of the District of Columbia in the 1940s, night watchmen reported seeing a man on horseback on the upper floors, where horsesused to be quartered during the Civil War.[3] They also reported seeing the ghost of James Tanner, a stenographer who took down thetestimony of eyewitnesses after the assassination of President Lincoln at Ford's Theater (ironically, Robert Todd Lincoln approved the plansfor the Pension Building).[3] These stories gained such prominence that mystery writer Margaret Truman mentioned them in one of hernovels.[77]

Hay­Adams Hotel

The Hay–Adams Hotel may also be host to the ghost of Marian "Clover" Hooper Adams. She was the wife of Henry Brooks Adams, thecelebrated 19th­century American journalist, historian, academic and novelist who was the grandson of John Quincy Adams.[78] She marriedHenry Adams on June 27, 1872, and in 1877 the couple moved to Washington, D.C., and rented the Slidell House at 1607 H Street NW.[79]

Their home became a salon for the capital's literati and politically powerful.[79] In 1881, the Adamses purchased a lot on the northwest cornerof 16th Street NW and H Street NW on Lafayette Square, and with their friend John Hay began building the famous Hay­Adams Houses—twoof the most architecturally important private residences ever built in the city.[68] Marian Adams' beloved father, to whom she was exceptionallyclose, died on April 13, 1885, and she sank into a deep depression.[78] Just months before she was to occupy her spacious and luxurious newhome, Adams committed suicide on December 6, 1885, by swallowing potassium cyanide.[68] To mark her grave in Rock Creek Cemetery,Henry Adams commissioned sculptor Augustus Saint­Gaudens and architect Stanford White to create the haunting Adams Memorial with itshooded, robed, androgynous figure formally titled Mystery of the Hereafter and The Peace of God that Passeth Understanding (but which iscommonly called Grief).[79] The Hay­Adams Houses were razed in 1927 by real estate developer Harry Wardman, and the Hay­Adams Hotelbuilt on the site.[51] Although Marian Adams never lived in the house where the Hay­Adams Hotel is today, some hotel staff say her specterhaunts the site. Housekeepers and other staff have reported being hugged by an invisible presence as well as hearing a woman sobbing.[80]Other mysterious occurrences attributed to the Adams specter include locked doors opening and closing, clock radios turning on and off, and awoman's voice whispering, "What do you want?"[16] A few witnesses say the ghost is accompanied by the scent of mimosa, Adams' favoritescent.[23] The incidents are located primarily on the hotel's fourth floor,[81] and occur usually during the first two weeks of December (near theanniversary of Marian Adams' death).[80]

Dupont Circle

Walsh Mansion

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The former Walsh Mansion (now theIndonesian Embassy) near DupontCircle

One of the most important buildings in the Dupont Circle neighborhood is the Walsh Mansion (now theEmbassy of Indonesia) located at 2020 Massachusetts Avenue NW. Thomas J. Walsh had emigratedpenniless from Ireland to the United States in 1869, then over the next quarter century built up a smallfortune as a carpenter, miner, and hotel manager.[82] His first daughter (born in 1880) died in infancy,but his daughter, Evalyn (born in 1886), and son, Vinson (born in 1888), both survived.[83] He lostnearly all his life's savings in the Panic of 1893.[82] The family moved to Ouray, Colorado, in 1896,where Walsh bought the Camp Bird Mine (which was thought to have been worked out) and struck amassive vein of gold and silver.[84] Now a multi­millionaire, Thomas Walsh moved his family toWashington, D.C., in 1898.[82] After spending 1899–1900 in Paris, France, the Walshes returned toWashington where Thomas Walsh commenced the construction of a mansion on Massachusetts AvenueNW.[85] The Walsh Mansion, completed in 1903,[86] cost $835,000 (the most expensive residence in

the city at the time)[84] and had 60 rooms, a theater, a ballroom, a French salon, a grand staircase, and $2 million in furnishings which tookseveral years to purchase and install.[85] Evalyn Walsh married Edward Beale "Ned" McLean (the publishing heir whose family owned TheWashington Post) in 1908, and after her father's death in April 1910 lived in the Walsh Mansion.[83] In 1910, Ned McLean bought theallegedly cursed Hope Diamond for his wife for $180,000 (although the purchase was not formalized until February 1911, and not completeduntil after a lawsuit settled out of court in 1912).[84] Evalyn Walsh died on April 26, 1947.[83] To cover Evalyn's significant debts, the WalshMansion was sold in 1952 to the Government of Indonesia for use as an embassy.[84] But according to embassy staff, Evalyn Walsh McLeannever vacated the home. Rather, her spirit has been seen several times gliding down the mansion's grand central staircase.[17] A naked lady'sspectral form has also been seen from time to time in the mansion, but no one knows who she is.[87]

Woodrow Wilson House

A second noted house in the Dupont Circle neighborhood which is claimed to be haunted is the Woodrow Wilson House (2340 S Street NW).Woodrow Wilson was elected President of the United States in 1912, was re­elected in 1916 promising to keep the nation out of war, led thenation through World War I, and left office in 1921.[88] At 2 AM on September 26, 1919, while traveling to Wichita, Kansas, on a nationwidespeaking tour to win public support to pressure the Senate into ratifying the Treaty of Versailles, Wilson collapsed and, after cancelling the restof his speaking tour, was rushed back to the capital by train.[89] His condition worsened on the journey, and upon arriving at the White Houseon October 2 the President suffered a life­threatening stroke that left him permanently paralyzed on his left side and blind in the left eye.[89]

Although the President lived, he was confined to bed for two months, seen only by his wife, a few close associates, and his physicians.[90]

From December 1919 to April 1920 Wilson required a wheelchair.[89] Wilson attended his first Cabinet meeting in April 1920, but for the restof the year his mind continued to wander, his memory was marred, and he tired easily.[90] By March 1921 (when he left office) Wilson wasable to walk short distances with the use of a cane (and with a valet close at hand).[89] The extent of Wilson's disability was kept from the

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public until after his death on February 3, 1924.[91] President and Mrs. Wilson purchased a large home at 2340 S Street NW, to which anumber of modifications were made (including the addition of an elevator).[91] Woodrow Wilson received few guests in his last years, and diedin his third floor bedroom on February 3, 1924.[88] His wife, Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, lived in the home until her death on December 28,1961, and willed the home to the National Trust for Historic Preservation to be made into a museum honoring her husband. In the decadessince her death, staff and visitors at the Woodrow Wilson House claim to have seen the President's ghost sitting in his rocking chair, heard theshuffle of a man walking with a cane, and heard a man sob.[92]

Georgetown

General Edward Braddock left Observatory Hill in Georgetown in 1755 on an expedition to capture the French Fort Duquesne during theFrench and Indian War.[61][93] Braddock's expedition was surprised on July 9 in the vicinity of present­day Braddock, Pennsylvania, in what isnow known as the Battle of the Monongahela. Nearly 900 of Braddock's 1,300 men were killed or wounded, and Braddock himself killed.Since before the American Civil War,[3] witnesses say that on the anniversary of Braddock's departure they can hear shouted military orders,horses' hooves on cobblestones, the sound of men marching, and the sound of metal clanking against metal.[17] The sounds can be heard nearthe old Long Bridge or near the Georgetown bluffs overlooking the Potomac River.[3]

Halcyon House (3400 Prospect Street NW) is a 30,000­square­foot (2,800 m2) mansion originally built in 1787 by Benjamin Stoddert, the firstSecretary of the Navy.[94][95] Halcyon House was owned by several individuals in the 19th century, and is alleged to have served as part of theUnderground Railroad.[96] The home was sold in 1900 to Albert Clemens, a nephew of Mark Twain.[94] The original structure was heavilyaltered over the next 38 years. Clemens believed that perpetually rebuilding the house would extend his life.[3] The coach house was joined tothe building, apartments added to the north face and rear, rooms built within rooms, hallways added and then walled off, and even a smallcrypt added in one room.[97] Clemens died in 1938.[95] Halcyon House is allegedly haunted by the spirits of numerous runaway slaves whodied there during their escape to freedom, and whose moans and cries can be heard in the basement.[16] Others claim that the ghost ofBenjamin Stoddert has been seen, heard walking through the house, sitting in a chair, or whispering unintelligibly.[16] The spirit of a womanhas also been spotted in an upstairs window.[3] A six­year­old visitor claimed that the woman frequently woke him at night by rearranging hiscovers.[3] Two residents say they have experienced levitation during the night, with their bodies being reversed so that their feet were on thepillow.[3] Unnamed residents have told about lights mysteriously going out and sounds in the attic.[3]

The Old Stone House (3051 M Street NW) was built in 1765 by Christopher and Rachel Layman.[60] The house was sold in 1767 to a wealthywidow, Cassandra Chew, who constructed a kitchen in the rear in 1767, and a second floor between 1767 and 1775, and a third floor in the1790s.[98] It remained in private hands for almost two centuries, used as a home and place of business,[60] until the federal government

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The Old Stone House in Georgetown,which allegedly houses a malevolentghost.

purchased it in 1953 .[99] An exceptionally large number of spirits, residents and visitors claim, inhabit the small house. These include: Awoman in a brown dress standing near the fireplace, a heavy­set woman standing on the staircase and also in the kitchen, a man with longblond hair and wearing a blue jacket, a man wearing short pants and long stockings,[17] a woman in a rocking chair on the third floor, a smallboy who runs down the third floor hallway, a man dressed in Colonial­era clothing standing in themaster bedroom, a man dressed in Colonial­era clothing seen on the second floor, a young girl withcurly hair running up and down the staircase, an African American boy, and a German­lookingcraftsman.[59] The laughter of invisible children and the translucent images of women cooking in thekitchen have also been observed.[16] The Old Stone House may also contain one of Washington's onlymalevolent spirits, nicknamed "George," who has choked and pushed visitors and whose presence(often indicated by an extremely cold spot) leaves witnesses with an intense feeling of dread.[23] Thehauntings at the Old Stone House are so well known that they were mentioned in Sandi Wilson's shortcrime story, "The Blonde in Black."[100]

Bridges in Georgetown may also be the sites of ghostly activity. Two specters are said to haunt the siteof the M Street bridge. M Street NW was known on the Georgetown side as "Bridge Street" before thestreet renaming of 1895.[101] In 1788, a wooden drawbridge was built over Rock Creek to connectBridge Street with M Street NW in Washington.[102] But the bridge collapsed during a rain stormshortly after it was built, taking a stagecoach full of passengers with it.[103] Federal Bridge, a sturdier structure, was built over Rock Creek in1802.[102] However, from the early 19th century to the early 20th century, Georgetown residents claimed to see a silent stagecoach race downBridge Street on starless nights, and then disappear in the center of the new span.[104] Another apparition said to haunt the bridge was that of adrummer boy who allegedly had been knocked off the bridge (during the American Revolutionary War or in the early 19th century after thebridge had been rebuilt) by a gust of wind and drowned in Rock Creek.[105] On quiet nights, witnesses claimed to hear soft drumming whichgot louder near the center of the span but disappeared once the spot where the boy drowned was reached.[3] The image of a headless man(whose origins are shrouded in mystery) is said to sometimes haunt the Georgetown side of the K Street NW bridge over Rock Creek aswell.[105]

Uptown

Another spirit reportedly haunts the Omni Shoreham Hotel (2500 Calvert Street NW),[106] built in 1930 by local construction company ownerHarry Bralove and designed by Waddy Butler Wood. The hotel's owners accepted Henry L. Doherty as a minority financial partner.[107]

Doherty and his family moved into an apartment (now Suite 870) in the hotel, along with their maid, Juliette Brown.[108] A few months afterthe Dohertys moved into the apartment, their maid died in the night.[108] A short time later, the Doherty's daughter, Helen, also died in the

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Omni Shoreham Hotel

suite.[107] The Dohertys moved out, and the apartment remained unoccupied for almost 50 years.[108] The apartment was renovated into a hotelsuite. But guests and hotel staff began to tell stories of faint voices, cold breezes, doors slamming shut and opening of their own accord, andtelevisions and lights turning on and off on their own.[108] Guests in adjoining suites would complain of noises coming from the closed andempty Suite 870.[107] Other occupants say furniture would be found out of place, and hotel staff said their housekeeping carts would move ontheir own.[108] The Omni Shoreham Hotel has named the room the "Ghost Suite."[107] ToddScartozzi, an Omni Hotels manager, stayed in the Ghost Suite with his family andobserved a walk­in closet light turning on and off of its own accord.[108]

See also

Ghosts of the American Civil WarHaunted houseLincoln's GhostList of reportedly haunted locations

United StatesList of ghosts

References1. French, Joseph Lewis. The Best Ghost Stories. (http://books.google.com/books?

id=wvxJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false) New York: Boni and Liveright, Inc., 1919.2. Cosgrove­Mather, Bootie. "Haunted House On The Hill." (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/31/national/main581269.shtml) CBS News.

October 31, 2003.3. Alexander, John. Ghosts: Washington's Most Famous Ghost Stories. Arlington, Va.: The Washington Book Trading Co., 1988. ISBN 978­0­91516807­

14. Norman, Michael and Scott, Beth. Historic Haunted America. Reprint ed. New York: Macmillan, 2007. ISBN 0­7653­1970­55. "With Election Looming, Washington Is A Ghost Town – Literally." (http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/10/24/life.ghosts.reut/)Reuters. October 24, 2000.

6. Bardes, Barbara A.; Shelley, Mack C.; and Schmidt, Steffen W. American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials. 15th ed. Florence, Ky.:Cengage Learning, 2008. ISBN 0­495­57170­9

7. Jordan, Elizabeth. "Ghosts Wander the Hill." (http://www.rollcall.com/issues/55_5/ath/36682­1.html) Roll Call. July 13, 2009.

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7. Jordan, Elizabeth. "Ghosts Wander the Hill." (http://www.rollcall.com/issues/55_5/ath/36682­1.html) Roll Call. July 13, 2009.8. Jusserand, Jean Jules. Major L'Enfant and the Federal City. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1916; Bowling, Kenneth R. Peter Charles L'Enfant:Vision, Honor, and Male Friendship in the Early American Republic. Washington, D.C.: George Washington University, 2002. OCLC 51037796

9. Miller, William and Leighton, Frances Spatz. Fishbait: The Memoirs of the Congressional Doorkeeper. New York: Prentice­Hall, 1977. ISBN 0­13­320416­2

10. Office of the Clerk. United States House of Representatives. "The Death of Congressman William Taulbee on the Steps of the U.S. Capitol." No date.(http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/highlights.html?action=view&intID=210) Accessed 2009­10­09; Kessler, Ronald. Inside Congress: The ShockingScandals, Corruption, and Abuse of Power Behind the Scenes on Capitol Hill. Reprint ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998. ISBN 0­671­00386­0;Brown, Sherrod. Congress From the Inside: Observations From the Majority and the Minority. 2d ed. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2000.ISBN 0­87338­676­0; Remini, Robert Vincent. The House: The History of the House of Representatives. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. ISBN 0­06­088434­7; Klotter, James C. Kentucky Justice, Southern Honor, and American Manhood: Understanding the Life and Death of Richard Reid. BatonRouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2003. ISBN 0­8071­2857­0

11. Taylor, Troy. Wicked Washington: Mysteries, Murder & Mayhem in America's Capital. Charleston, S.C.: The History Press, 2007. ISBN 1­59629­302­0

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13. Reeves, Thomas C. Gentleman Boss. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975. ISBN 0­394­46095­214. Ogden, Tom. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ghosts and Hauntings. New York: Alpha Books, 1999. ISBN 0­02­863659­715. Rainbolt, Dusty. Ghost Cats: Human Encounters with Feline Spirits. Guilford, Conn.: Globe Pequot, 2007. ISBN 1­59921­004­5 and Yager, Jordy.

"Haunted House — and Senate." (http://thehill.com/capital­living/24150­haunted­house­­and­senate) The Hill. March 3, 2009.16. Tischler, Gary. "Georgetown Haunts Yield Spirited Chills." Washington Times. October 25, 2007.17. Hauck, Dennis. Haunted Places: The National Directory. 2d ed. New York: Penguin Group, 2002. ISBN 0­14­200234­818. Moore, John Leo. Speaking of Washington: Facts, Firsts, and Folklore. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1993. ISBN 0­87187­762­7;

Aikman, Lonnelle. We, the People: The Story of the United States Capitol, Its Past and Its Promise. 13th ed. Washington, D.C.: United States CapitolHistorical Society, 1985. ISBN 0­916200­06­X

19. "Holt, Joseph (1804–1894)." In Andrew Johnson: A Biographical Companion. Glenna R. Schroeder­Lein and Richard Zuczek, eds. Santa Barbara,Calif.: ABC­CLIO, 2001. ISBN 1­57607­030­1

20. Green, Constance M. Washington: Village and Capital, 1800–1878. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1962.21. Chamlee, Roy Z. Lincoln's Assassins: A Complete Account of Their Capture, Trial, and Punishment. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1990. ISBN 0­

89950­420­522. Cohen, Daniel. Civil War Ghosts. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1999. ISBN 0­439­05387­023. Caggiula, Samuel M.; Brackett, Beverly; and King, Gilbert. City in Time: Washington. New York: Sterling Publishing Company, 2008. ISBN 1­4027­

3609­624. Peck, Taylor. Round­Shot to Rockets: A History of the Washington Navy Yard and U.S. Naval Gun Factory. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute,

1949.25. Whitcomb, Claire. Real Life at the White House: 200 Years of Daily Life at America's Most Famous Residence. New York: Routledge, 2002. ISBN 0­

415­93951­826. Gould, Lewis L. American First Ladies: Their Lives and Their Legacy. 2d ed. Florence, Ky.: Taylor & Francis, 2001. ISBN 0­415­93021­927. Anthony, Carl Sferrazza. America's First Families: An Inside View of 200 Years of Private Life in the White House. New York: Simon and Schuster,

2000. ISBN 0­684­86442­828. Holzer, Hans. Hans Holzer's Haunted America. Wheaton, Ill.: Barnes & Noble Books, 1993. ISBN 1­56619­193­9

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29. Pederson, William D. and Williams, Frank J. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln: Competing Perspectives on Two Great Presidencies.Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2002. ISBN 0­7656­1034­5

30. Parks, Lillian Rogers. My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House. New York: Fleet Publishing Corp., 1961.31. Thomsen, Brian M. Oval Office Occult: True Stories of White House Weirdness. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008. ISBN 0­7407­7386­

032. Garber, Marjorie B. Profiling Shakespeare. Florence, Ky.: Routledge, 2008. ISBN 0­415­96446­633. Peterson, Merrill D. Lincoln in American Memory. Reprint ed. New York: Oxford University Press US, 1995. ISBN 0­19­509645­234. Reagan, Maureen. First Father, First Daughter: A Memoir. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2001. ISBN 0­316­73636­835. Belanger, Jeff. The World's Most Haunted Places: From the Secret Files of Ghostvillage.com. New York: Career Press, 2004. ISBN 1­56414­764­936. Blackman, W. Haden. The Field Guide to North American Hauntings: Everything You Need to Know About Encountering Over 100 Ghosts, Phantoms,

and Spectral Entities. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1998. ISBN 0­609­80021­337. Donald, David Herbert. Lincoln. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995. ISBN 0­684­80846­338. Levy, Leonard Williams and Fisher, Louis. Encyclopedia of the American Presidency. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. ISBN 0­13­275983­739. Apkarian­Russell, Pamela. Washington's Haunted Past: Capital Ghosts of America. Charleston, S.C.: The History Press, 2006. ISBN 1­59629­181­840. Leaf, Jesse. The Everything Family Guide to Washington D.C.: All the Best Hotels, Restaurants, Sites, and Attractions. 3rd ed. Cincinnati, Ohio:

Everything Books, 2007. ISBN 1­59869­287­941. Robar, Stephen F. Frances Clara Folsom Cleveland. New York: Nova Publishers, 2004. ISBN 1­59454­150­742. Hickey, Donald R. The War of 1812: The Forgotten Conflict. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1990. ISBN 0­252­06059­8; Pitch, Anthony S.

The Burning of Washington. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000. ISBN 1­55750­425­343. Holloway, Laura Carter. The Ladies of the White house: or, In the Home of the Presidents. Philadelphia, Pa.: Bradley, Garretson, & Company, 1883;

Goodrich, Thomas. The Darkest Dawn: Lincoln, Booth, and the Great American Tragedy. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2006. ISBN 0­253­21889­6

44. Walther, Eric H. The Shattering of the Union: America in the 1850s. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. ISBN 0­8420­2799­845. Gallagher, Gary W. Three Days at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1999. ISBN 0­

87338­629­946. Smith, Hal H. "Historic Washington Homes." Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington. 1908.47. Decatur had served on the court­martial that had found Barron guilty of unpreparedness, and had barred him from a command for the next five years.

See: De Kay, James Tertius. A Rage for Glory: The Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN. New York: Free Press, 2004. ISBN 0­7432­4245­948. De Kay, A Rage for Glory: The Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN, 2004.49. Grimmett, Richard F. St. John's Church, Lafayette Square: The History and Heritage of the Church of the Presidents, Washington, D.C. Minneapolis,

Minn.: Hillcrest Publishing Group, 2009. ISBN 1­934248­53­350. Benedetto, Robert; Donovan, Jane; and Du Vall, Kathleen. Historical Dictionary of Washington. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. ISBN 0­8108­

4094­451. Bednar, Michael J. L'Enfant's Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. ISBN 0­8018­8318­

052. Washburn, Wilcomb E. The Cosmos Club of Washington: A Centennial History, 1878–1978. Washington, D.C.: The Club, 1978.53. Solomon, Mary Jane; Ruben, Barbard; and Aloisi, Rebecca. Insiders' Guide to Washington, D.C. 7th ed. Guilford, Conn.: Globe Pequot, 2007. ISBN 0­

7627­4410­3; Roos, Frank John. Writings on Early American Architecture: An Annotated List of Books and Articles on Architecture ConstructedBefore 1860 in the Eastern Half of the United States. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State University Press, 1943; "Hauntings in the Heart of Washington."Washington Post. October 24, 2008.

54. McCue, George. The Octagon: Being an Account of a Famous Washington Residence, Its Great Years, Decline & Restoration. Washington, D.C.:

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54. McCue, George. The Octagon: Being an Account of a Famous Washington Residence, Its Great Years, Decline & Restoration. Washington, D.C.:American Institute of Architects Foundation, 1976.

55. "Old Letters From Virginia County Records." (http://books.google.com/books?id=YjsSAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false) William and Mary College QuarterlyHistorical Magazine. 11:3 (January 1903); Sale, Edith Tunis. Manors of Virginia in Colonial Times. New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1909; Watson,Winslow Marston. In Memoriam: Benjamin Ogle Tayloe. (http://books.google.com/books?id=TpMEAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false) Philadelphia, Pa.: Sherman & Co., 1872.For information on the King's Council of Virginia, its constitution, its emigration to America, and its function in Virginia, see: Warner, Charles Dudley."Truth About Virginia." (http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive­free/pdf?res=9505EED71E39E433A2575AC0A9619C94699ED7CF) New York Times.July 9, 1898.

56. The District of Columbia was "home to the largest slave market in North America", and the city contained four or five very large slave markets as wellas numerous smaller "slave pens" in nearly every neighborhood and rural area of the District. See: Bangura, Abdul Karim. Historical Political Economyof Washington. Latham, Md.: University Press of America, 2000. ISBN 0­7618­1707­7; Gutheim, Frederick Albert. Worthy of the Nation: Washington,DC, From L'Enfant to the National Capital Planning Commission. 2d ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. ISBN 0­8018­8328­8;Christianson, Scott. With Liberty for Some: 500 Years of Imprisonment in America. Lebanon, N.H.: University Press of New England, 2000. ISBN 1­55553­468­6; Goode, James W. Capital Losses: A Cultural History of Washington's Destroyed Buildings. 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: SmithsonianBooks, 2003. ISBN 1­58834­105­4. For quote, see: De Angelis, Gina. It Happened in Washington. Guilford, Conn.: Globe Pequot, 2004, ISBN 0­7627­2590­7 p. 49.

57. Gutheim, Frederick Albert. Worthy of the Nation: Washington, DC, From L'Enfant to the National Capital Planning Commission. 2d ed. Baltimore:Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. ISBN 0­8018­8328­8

58. Haas, Irvin. Historic Homes of the American Presidents. 2d ed. North Chelmsford, Mass.:Courier Dover Publications, 1991. ISBN 0­486­26751­2;Moore, Virginia. The Madisons: A Biography. New York: McGraw­Hill, 1979. ISBN 0­07­042903­0

59. Floyd, Randall. In the Realm of Ghosts and Hauntings. Augusta, Ga.: Harbor House, 2002. ISBN 1­891799­06­160. Whitman, William B. Washington, D.C. Off the Beaten Path: A Guide to Unique Places. 4th ed. Guilford, Conn.: Globe Pequot, 2007. ISBN 0­7627­

4217­861. "Old Landmarks at the Capital That Few Persons Know Anything About." (http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive­free/pdf?

res=9902E3D61E3BE533A25757C0A9679C94609ED7CF) New York Times. January 4, 1891.62. Lockwood, Mary Smith. Historic Homes in Washington: Its Noted Men and Women. (http://books.google.com/books?id=hoQ­

AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false) New York: Belford Company, 1889.63. Gouverneur, Marian. As I Remember: Recollections of American Society During the Nineteenth Century. (http://books.google.com/books?

id=4wklAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false) New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1911.64. Clemmer, Mary. Ten Years in Washington: Life and Scenes in the National Capital as a Woman Sees Them. (http://books.google.com/books?

id=88gLAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false) Cincinnati: Queen City Publishing Company,1874.

65. Let's Go Washington. New York: Macmillan, 2003. ISBN 0­312­32001­966. Evelyn, Douglas E.; Dickson, Paul; and Ackerman, S.J. On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C. 3rd rev. ed. Dulles, Va.: Capital

Books, 2008. ISBN 1­933102­70­567. Blackman, Ann. Wild Rose: Rose O'Neale Greenhow, Civil War Spy. Reprint ed. New York: Random House, 2006. ISBN 0­8129­7045­4; Bangura,

Abdul Karim. Historical Political Economy of Washington. Latham, Md.: University Press of America, 2000. ISBN 0­7618­1707­768. Goode, James W. Capital Losses: A Cultural History of Washington's Destroyed Buildings. 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 2003. ISBN

1­58834­105­4; Deyle, Steven. Carry Me Back: The Domestic Slave Trade in American Life. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2005. ISBN 0­19­516040­1

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External links

Haunted History: Washington D.C. video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xwi3VFCTko) on YouTube

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Categories: Reportedly haunted locations in Washington, D.C. Death in Washington, D.C. American ghosts

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