The most important documents in American history — including the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation — are kept in the National Archives. But there’s more to the National Archives than what you learned in history textbooks. The National Register of Historic Places is a list of sites that are preserved because of their historical significance. Maintained by the National Parks Service but held in the National Archives, these records are full of our country’s hidden history, including places famous for ghostly activity.
Like most haunted locations, these sites have dark backstories: untimely deaths, skin-crawling punishments, and creepy children reminiscent of those in The Shining. While the haunted history of each of these historical sites is true, we’ll let you decide if ghosts really lurked in their halls.
Welcome to the Archives after dark.
Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, California
In 1862, at the height of the Civil War, Sarah L. Pardee married William Wirt Winchester, heir to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The company's most famous product was the Winchester Rifle, a.k.a. “the gun that won the West.”
But William controlled the company for only three months before dying of tuberculosis, and Sarah inherited $20 million dollars and more than 50% of company stock. Today, that’s over $602 million dollars.
Unfortunately, Sarah also lost her only child, her father-in-law, and her mother. Distraught, she consulted a medium, who told her that the deaths in her family were caused by the spirits of those killed by Winchester-manufactured guns. Unless she spent the rest of her life constructing a house for their spirits, Sarah was warned, she would be next.
Motivated by this warning, Sarah moved from Connecticut to what is now San Jose, California, in 1886, where she purchased an eight-room farmhouse. She hired a construction company and gave the directive that the house remain under constant construction, which it was until her death in 1922. This directive resulted in stairways to nowhere, windows in floors, and maze-like rooms. At its largest, the 24,000 square foot house had 160 rooms, 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 47 stairways and fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, and six kitchens.
This “eternal house” built for spirits has reported hauntings that date back to its construction, when workers spotted a “man” pushing a wheelbarrow around the fireplace. One long-time maintenance worker reported hearing footsteps, only to follow them all the way to the roof without finding a soul. Workers and visitors have seen shadow figures roaming the halls, looking out windows and darting around corners.
The Winchester Mystery House, as it’s now called, entered into the National Register of Historic Places on August 7, 1974. The house is a major San Jose tourist attraction, inspired Disney World’s Haunted Mansion, and has welcomed millions of guests to witness its history (and spirits?) in real life.
Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia
The story of the Eastern State Penitentiary goes all the way back to Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush. Both were part of a Quaker movement that wanted Pennsylvania to be a leader in a new kind of prison that focused on reflection, spirituality, and reform through solitude. This movement was actually the beginning of solitary confinement, a practice that continues today in modern prisons.
Eastern State Penitentiary was completed in 1836. It was considered state of the art, and had plumbing and heating even before the White House. The prison was internationally renowned for its reform methods, and was visited by the Marquis de Lafayette and writer Alexis de Tocqueville. But when author Charles Dickens visited, he had a different take, calling “hopeless solitary confinement… cruel and wrong.”
To minimize prisoners’ human interactions, they were given meals through a “feed slot,” and guards wore fabric on their shoes so footsteps were silent. All communication was strictly forbidden, including letters from home; the only book permitted was the Bible. On the rare occasions when prisoners left their cells, they wore heavy masks that completely blinded them to others.
Solitary confinement at this penitentiary ended in the 20th century, but mistreatment did not. Prisoners were often punished by being immobilized for days in a “mad chair” or dunked in freezing water and left in the cold night air.
Bad 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 have reported 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.
After 142 years, the Eastern State Penitentiary closed its doors in 1971, but it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
Dock Street Theater, Charleston, South Carolina
The Dock Street Theater was America’s first theater and opened 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.
Plantar’s Hotel was one of the preeminent hotels in Charleston before the Civil War, hosting elite families vacationing in the city. Frequent guests included a traveling theater group, the most famous among them being Junius Brutus Booth, father of actor Edwin Booth and Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. Junius became infamous at the Plantar’s Hotel after getting into a near-death altercation with the manager.
The hotel eventually closed and, after major renovations, reopened as a theater in 1935 and again in 2010. Since then, ghosts have taken the stage, including, apparently, Junius Booth, who haunts the halls and theater.
But a spirit with far more claim to the building is Nettie Dickerson, an impoverished girl who, in the early 1800s, frequented Plantar’s Hotel looking for love. But even after spending her savings on a stunning red dress, Charleston's upper crust never accepted her. She was last seen on the second-floor balcony, before being struck and killed by a bolt of lightning. Guests and workers today say they see Dickerson walking the hotel, still in her red dress.
The Dock Street Theater is the last surviving antebellum hotel in Charleston. It was entered into the National Register of Historic Places on June 19, 1973.
RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach, California
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 vessel for the rich while also serving as overseas transportation for immigrants. The quality of accommodations matched one’s social class, making the Queen Mary a microcosm of society.
The ship was owned by Cunard, a shipping company that had acquired White Star Lines (which had owned the doomed Titanic) a few years before the ship's construction. In fact, the Queen Mary is significant, too, because she is the only ship left of her kind: The Titanic, Olympic, Queen Elizabeth, etc. are gone.
The Queen Mary’s luxury days ended when she was conscripted into service during World War II. Luxury furnishings were stripped away to transport soldiers: She carried more than 800,000 soldiers on 72 trips from America to Sydney, Australia, and Gourock, Scotland. After the war, the ship became stationary and was converted into a hotel.
So, who was haunting the high seas? In her years at sea, there were 49 deaths aboard the Queen Mary. One was the particularly gruesome death of a crew member who was 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 reported that covers were pulled off of them at night and that they’ve seen realistic figures who then fade away. Beds are made and unmade, lights that were off are turned on, and water starts running on its own. Guests also feel cold spots and people brushing against them, even when they’re alone.
The RMS Queen Mary was entered into the National Register of Historic Places on April 15, 1993.
Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado
In 1903, inventor and entrepreneur F.O. Stanley was dying of tuberculosis and doctors said he had three months to live. In hopes of prolonging his life, he moved to Colorado, where the dry mountain air worked wonders. In 1909, he opened the Stanley Hotel, which became a shining example of luxury with its electricity and bathrooms. Stanley lived there for another 37 years.
Famous guests of the Stanley Hotel include band leader John Phillip Sousa, Molly Brown, Theodore Roosevelt, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan. Oh, and Stephen King.
While King and his wife slept in room 217, a series of nightmares forced the author awake. Sleepless, he spent the night writing what would become The Shining. King may have been sharing that room with someone who never clocked out from work: In 1911, a gas leak at the hotel caused an explosion when chambermaid Elizabeth Wilson entered the same room — 217 — with a lit candle. Miraculously, she survived, and continued to work at the hotel until 1950. But guests say she’s still around, making their beds and folding clothes.
The Stanley's fourth floor is reported to be particularly creepy. One staff member suddenly became ill there, room 401 is supposedly occupied by a malevolent male presence, and guests have said that they share room 428 with a cowboy who stares at them while they sleep. Giggling children are said to be heard throughout, and the ghost of a former pastry chef is thought to haunt the servants’ passageways, leaving behind the smell of baked goods. F.O. Stanley and his wife have also been seen, with Stanley at the bar or billiard table and Flora at the piano.
The Stanley Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 26, 1977; it was updated to include the Stanley Hotel District in 1985.
Explore the National Register of Historic Places yourself. You can search the full register in the National Archives Catalog by typing in “National Register of Historic Places” and “Name of Location.” Search for your favorite haunted spots or find the history in your own community!
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