Blue Ridge Boos: 16 Most Haunted Places in Virginia

The most haunted places in Virginia are enough to make even the Blue Ridge Mountains shiver. From misty riverbanks to colonial brick homes, the Old Dominion hides hauntings.

Pack your curiosity, a brave heart, and maybe a flashlight; you’ll need all three to explore the corners of the state where the past refuses to stay buried.

These are the 16 most haunted places in Virginia:

Bacon’s Castle

Surry

Bacon’s Castle is one of the most haunted places in Virginia. 

Also known as Allen’s Brick House or the Arthur Allen House, it was built in 1665 and remains the oldest documented brick dwelling in what is now the United States. 

Originally constructed by Arthur Allen, the house became known as Bacon’s Castle in 1676 when followers of Nathanial Bacon occupied and looted it during Bacon’s Rebellion. 

Bacon himself never set foot on the property.

Over the centuries, visitors have reported disembodied voices, floating heads, and other WTF stuff. Inside, furniture moves on its own, mysterious gunshots echo, and invisible voices warn guests to leave.

One of the most famous phenomena is a ghostly fireball. It starts near the garret and second floor of the stair tower, speeds down, and shoots through the now-bricked back door toward the cemetery.

Another spirit is a woman in a white dress, sometimes seen in the yard or on the wing stair tower. Some stories claim she playfully tickles children while they sleep.

Bacon’s Castle was home to as many as 300 slaves in colonial times, with 18 quarters on the property, though only one remains.

Punishments were brutal: whipping, confinement, and other harsh discipline left both body and spirit scarred. The sorrow and fear of those who lived and died here imprinted on the castle’s halls.

While the mansion showcased lavish furnishings, the slaves slept on piles of hay and rags, making their spirits linger with unrest.

Preservation Virginia began restoring the home in the 1980s and uncovered many strange objects:

• A 1675 coin was discovered under a floor tile in the basement
• Bottle fragments and a shard of a glass window etched with the name W. W. Rowell in the attic’s knee wall
• Shoes dating from the 1820s to 1840s
• A key, white tobacco pipes, a knife without a handle, and several loose iron nails were found in a detached outbuilding behind a fireplace

Many of these items are thought to be ritual concealment, a form of folk magic used to protect residents from harm or evil spirits. Iron, being protective, could explain the nails, while the concealed shoes might have been intended to ward off bad luck or protect against witches.

Bacon’s Castle offers guided interior tours from March through December.

The Cavalier Hotel

Virginia Beach

The Cavalier Hotel is a towering Virginia Beach landmark that opened in 1927 during the height of the Roaring Twenties. Nicknamed the “Grand Dame of the Shore,” it was a luxurious resort that drew celebrities, socialites, and presidents. 

During World War II, the U.S. Navy commandeered the Cavalier in 1942, turning it into a radar training center. After the war, the hotel resumed its life as a luxury resort, but decades of wear and decline followed. 

Major renovations in the 2010s brought it back to its former splendor. Today, its polished beauty hides a darker side, as the Cavalier is one of the most haunted places in Virginia.

Manifestations:

• The Sixth Floor Guard: A black man in an old hotel uniform has been seen on the sixth-floor staircase. He warns people that ghosts are ahead, but he himself is a ghost.
• Elevators: Even during off-seasons or renovations when the hotel was closed, elevators moved from floor to floor without passengers.
• Nobody’s Calling: Receptionists working late at night received phone calls from the sixth floor when the hotel was empty. Answering the phone brought only silence.
• The Woman and Her Dog at Becca’s: In what is now Becca’s Restaurant, a woman sometimes appears without a reservation. She has also been spotted strolling through the dining room, sometimes with the figure of a dog.
• The Ghost Cat and the Little Girl: Guests and staff have seen both a phantom cat and a young girl. The two seem to be searching for each other. The legend tells of a little girl whose cat escaped from their hotel room. The cat wandered to the pool, where it drowned, and the girl died trying to save it. Their spirits remain, forever linked.
• Adolph Coors: On June 5, 1929, Adolph Coors, founder of the Coors Brewing Company, died after falling from a sixth-floor window. Coors had checked into the hotel to recover from influenza on his doctor’s advice, and while he seemed to improve, his stay ended tragically. A loud thud followed by a scream from a staff member revealed his crumpled body on the concrete patio below. To this day, some guests witness his ghostly figure plunging from the same window.

The Peyton Randolph House

Williamsburg

The Peyton Randolph House is one of the most haunted places in Virginia, hands down. 

Built in the 18th century and once home to Peyton Randolph, the first president of the Continental Congress, the house saw visits from Thomas Jefferson and other revolutionary leaders.

Deaths and Hauntings at the Peyton Randolph House

• Revolutionary War Soldiers: During the American Revolution, the home served as a hospital. Many wounded soldiers died within its walls.
• Confederate Soldier: A Civil War veteran attending the College of William and Mary died here after succumbing to illness.
• Deadly Argument: Two men quarreled inside the house, their fight ending only when both lost their lives.
• Child Deaths: A young boy died suddenly after falling from a tree, and a little girl perished after falling from a second-story window. Visitors often notice strange movements near that same upstairs window.
• Marquis de Lafayette’s Encounter: In 1824, the French general reported feeling a hand grip his shoulder and hearing phantom voices in the halls.
• Apparition in 18th-Century Clothing: Guests occasionally see a glowing man in period dress.
• The Girl’s Fright: A two-year-old child once woke screaming, claiming a man in white stood in her bedroom.
• Confirmation: Years later, a man sleeping in the same room saw a transparent male figure in the corner.

St. Albans Sanatorium

Radford

St. Albans Sanatorium is one of the most haunted places in Virginia, and its dark past stretches back long before it became a psychiatric hospital. Built in 1892, the site first served as St. Albans Lutheran Boys’ School. 

The school quickly earned a reputation as ultra-competitive, where bullying was not just tolerated but encouraged. Some students, unable to cope with the torment, are believed to have committed suicide.

By 1916, the school closed, and the property was transformed into a psychiatric hospital. 

With over 6,500 patients and just 48 staff members, conditions were appalling. Electroshock therapy, lobotomies, and experimental practices left patients scarred, and many died by suicide to escape the torment.

The land beneath the sanatorium only deepens its grim aura. During the Civil War, the site was the scene of a bloody battle, and today, visitors sometimes hear phantom rifle shots, cannons, and even smell lingering gun smoke.

Those who step inside the decaying halls describe chilling encounters: full-bodied apparitions moving in shadow, disembodied voices echoing through rooms, objects levitating, and the undeniable sense of being watched. 

Wheelchairs sit rusting in corners, walls peel in layers, and children’s toys lie scattered across the floor, amplifying the unease.

Visitors can still tour St. Albans Sanatorium today.

The Ferry Plantation House

Virginia Beach

Ferry Plantation House ranks among the most haunted places in Virginia, standing on land whose stories stretch back centuries. 

Its roots go back to 1642, when the second ferry service in Hampton Roads began carrying people across the Lynnhaven River. 

Over time, the original structures fell, were replaced, burned down, and rebuilt. The current house dates to 1830, built using bricks from an earlier Walke Mansion destroyed by fire in 1828. Today, it’s a museum and educational center.

Manifestations:

• Henry: a slave who saved people in a fire at the old manor house (Walke Mansion) and continued living there even after emancipation. He died on the property and is very active. He had quarters, an “H” etched into a white wooden wall near them.
• Sally Rebecca Walke: former slave and Walke family member, who planted a magnolia tree in memory of her fiancé. She is often seen wandering the garden, waiting.
• A fallen soldier: one of the spirits associated with war-era deaths, possibly Civil War.
• Lady in White: said to have died from a broken neck after falling down the stairs.
• Thomas H. Williamson: an artist and former owner/descendant; seen painting on the second-floor staircase landing, beard and dirty shirt.
• Isabella MacIntosh: pregnant with her son when her husband Charles was killed; her apparition (sad, pregnant, and wearing blue) is seen reflected in windows.
• Bessie MacIntosh: daughter of Charles & Isabella; she died very young (about 5) and is seen wearing Mary Jane shoes.
• Eric: a young boy who died by falling from a low window (Conference Room).
• Julie, Isabel, George, Cora, Stella, Belinda: other spirits named among the eleven; some are more present occasionally, some less; their stories are less documented individually.

Today, the Ferry Plantation House can be toured.

The Exchange Hotel

Gordonsville

Built in 1860 beside a busy railroad junction, the Exchange Hotel was meant to welcome weary travelers. Just two years later, the Civil War transformed it into a receiving hospital. 

Between 1862 and 1865, more than 70,000 soldiers passed through its doors, many of them dying inside. Over 700 were buried on the grounds, leaving a heavy mark of grief. 

Today, it stands as the Civil War Museum, preserving uniforms, weapons, and personal artifacts.

But its past is far from silent. Visitors have reported ghostly nurses in black, disembodied screams, and flickering orbs of light drifting between rooms. Some claim to encounter the spirit of a Union corporal—the hospital’s last patient—while others have heard a cook named Anna cheerfully announce she is frying chicken. 

Is it any wonder the Exchange Hotel is considered one of the most haunted places in Virginia?

The Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery

Lexington

Now officially called Oak Grove Cemetery, the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery is one of the most haunted places in Virginia.

Established in 1789 as a Presbyterian church burial ground, it became the final resting place of Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, along with 144 Confederate soldiers and two Virginia governors.

The cemetery’s haunted reputation is tied not only to Jackson himself, whose spirit is said to walk the grounds, but also to the many soldiers buried beside him. Paranormal stories include a full troop of Union soldiers spotted marching behind a visitor’s car and shadowy figures moving between the headstones at dusk. 

The cemetery is open daily and is a regular stop on Lexington’s ghost tours.

The Martha Hotel and Spa

Abingdon

Built in 1832 as a private residence by General Francis Preston, the Martha Washington Inn & Spa displays classic Southern charm and grand décor. It later became Martha Washington College for women. 

During the Civil War, the building was converted into a field hospital, its grounds serving both Union and Confederate soldiers. After the war, it returned to college use, then reopened as a hotel in 1935. 

Today, it welcomes guests with comfy rooms and fancy spa treatments, and is also one of the most haunted places in Virginia.

Manifestations:

• Beth & the Yankee Soldier: A student named Beth nursed a gravely wounded Union officer, Captain John Stoves, during the Civil War, and their romance bloomed. When he died (after being shot in front of her), Beth played violin for him and later died of typhoid fever. Guests still claim to hear her violin sometimes, especially on nights with a full moon.
• The Bloodstain: The site of the Yankee soldier’s death left a bloodstain on the floor that reappears despite cleaning; carpets over that area develop unexplained holes. 
• Phantom Horse: On moonless nights, visitors have seen a riderless horse wandering the south lawn, believed to be waiting for its master, who died nearby. 
• Slaves Buried in Basement Walls: In the basement, there are reports that slaves were kept in underground chambers, some buried inside the walls; their restless spirits are said to linger.
• Trail of Mud & Wounded Soldier: Some guests report seeing a wounded soldier hobbling with a crutch, leaving a mud trail across the hallway.
• Malicious Spirit in Tunnel: A tunnel once connected the inn to the Barter Theatre; people walking through have felt evil presences; some legends say the tunnel collapsed or was used to smuggle ammunition. 
• Soldiers: Both Union and Confederate soldier apparitions appear, pacing parlors or standing in gardens.

Hollywood Cemetery

Richmond

Hollywood Cemetery is a 135-acre rural cemetery established in 1847, overlooking the James River. It is one of the most haunted places in Virginia for its graves of powerful figures, tragic deaths, and strange legends. 

The Richmond Vampire

After the Church Hill Tunnel collapsed in 1925, people saw a monstrous figure with sharp teeth and bloody skin crawl from the wreckage before vanishing into a crypt marked with the name W.W. Pool. And the Richmond Vampire legendwas born.

Manifestations:

• Florence Bernadine Rees: A little girl named Florence Bernadine Rees died of scarlet fever in about 1862. She loved a cast-iron Newfoundland dog statue outside a shop; after she died, the statue was placed beside her grave. The “Iron Dog” statue now stands guard over her plot. Visitors leave coins or small toys at the dog’s base. Someclaim to hear barking or feel watched near the statue.
• Rich Burial Ground: The cemetery holds graves of two U.S. Presidents, James Monroe and John Tyler, and the only President of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis, along with 28 Confederate generals, including George Pickett and J.E.B. Stuart.
• The Richmond Vampire: The tomb marked W.W. Poole is associated with rumors and lore that the Richmond Vampire lurks within or beneath it.

Gadsby’s Tavern Museum

Alexandria

Built in the late 18th century, Gadsby’s Tavern quickly became a hub of social and political life in Alexandria. 

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other founding fathers gathered here for meetings, balls, and banquets. 

But the most famous spirit tied to the tavern is known only as the Female Stranger.

According to legend, a mysterious woman arrived in 1816 with her companion and fell gravely ill. 

On her deathbed, she made everyone swear never to reveal her identity. She was buried in St. Paul’s Cemetery under a stone marked “Female Stranger.” 

Some think she was Aaron Burr’s daughter, Theodosia, while others whisper of a runaway heiress. Guests and staff alike report seeing her shadowy form in Room 8 and the ballroom, candles lighting themselves, and soft sobbing echoing through the halls. 

The Henricus Historical Park

Chester

Henricus was founded in 1611 as Jamestown’s sister colony, meant to ease the hardships of Virginia’s first settlement. 

Sir Thomas Dale marched colonists to the James River and ordered the construction of a fortified town. Life here was brutal; punishments for minor crimes included starvation, hanging, and burning. 

It was also the site where Pocahontas was once held hostage before her marriage to John Rolfe.

The colony lasted just over a decade before its bloody end in 1622, when a coordinated Native attack killed hundreds and burned the site to the ground. 

Today, Henricus Historical Park recreates this history, but visitors have reported voices speaking in Native American languages, marching footsteps, cannon fire in the distance, and misty figures moving through the reconstructed houses. 

The Old House Woods

Diggs

The Old House Woods in Mathews County, Virginia, have a long reputation for hauntings tied to violence and war. 

Pirates and thieves once hid in the forest to rob travelers, and both Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers used the creek as a hidden port. The woods were named after the Frannie Knight house, a colonial home that mysteriously caught fire twice, once spontaneously igniting before finally burning to the ground. 

Locals believed it was cursed, and its ruins disappeared into the earth. For generations, sailors have claimed to see ghostly Redcoats marching along the shoreline, while hunters report black shapes rising from the water and turning into soldiers. 

People have seen a glowing woman above the trees who screams violently before storms, the ghosts of horses charging through the woods, phantom crows shrieking overhead, and ghostly dogs that scratch vehicles and doors before vanishing.

The Pocahontas Parkway Trestle

Chesterfield

The most haunted places in Virginia include not just historic houses and battlefields but also modern sites like the Pocahontas Parkway Trestle. 

Virginia State Highway 895, also known as the Pocahontas Parkway, was built to connect Interstate 95 with Richmond International Airport. From the start, the project was marked by tragedy and controversy. 

Archaeologists discovered that the land had been home to the Powhatan and Arrohatak tribes for thousands of years, with sacred villages, hunting grounds, and burial sites spread across the area. 

Despite the discovery, construction continued, and the highway’s toll plaza was built directly on top of ancient burial grounds.

The project faced severe challenges. Two workers died during construction, and engineers had to adjust for deeper foundations than planned. Toll revenue fell short, and financial troubles forced ownership changes, with Transurban eventually walking away from the lease. 

Many locals believed the site’s unrest played a role in the road’s struggles.

Construction workers described seeing a Native American warrior on horseback at night, only for the figure to vanish when approached. Residents nearby heard war drums and chanting long before the first cars drove across the bridge, and the sounds grew louder after the road opened. 

Many locals believed the site’s unrest played a role in the road’s struggles.

One of the most famous encounters came in July 2002, when a truck driver crossing the trestle reported seeing five Native American men with torches standing in the road.

Police found nothing, and no tribes claimed involvement. 

The Cold Harbor Battlefield

Mechanicsville

The most haunted places in Virginia include the sites of Civil War bloodbaths like Cold Harbor Battlefield. 

Between May 31 and June 12, 1864, over 18,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or went missing during one of the deadliest battles in American history. 

The battlefield, located just outside Richmond, was a scene of extreme suffering with soldiers forced to entrench among the remains of men who had fallen at Gaines’ Mill two years earlier. Hunger, dehydration, and limited medical aid added to the horrors, leaving the land steeped in grief and tragedy.

Visitors report full-body apparitions of soldiers, often seen reenacting maneuvers from their final moments. Mist appears and disappears suddenly, dense and cold despite the battlefield’s distance from any major water source. 

Lights with no origin, phantom cannon fire, and the sound of horses galloping along Cold Harbor Road have been reported. 

The activity peaks around 1 A.M., and guests often feel as though unseen eyes are watching them.

The Aquia Church

Stafford

The most haunted places in Virginia also include churches like Aquia Episcopal Church in Stafford, built in 1757 in the shape of a Greek cross. 

The church remained empty for decades due to financial issues. 

When members finally returned in 1854, they discovered a skeleton in the vestry with long blonde hair still intact. She had been murdered by two highwaymen after fleeing to the church for safety. The skeleton was buried in the church cemetery, but her spirit, known as Blond Beth, continues to appear.

Visitors and church members have reported footsteps that break into frantic running with no one present. Strange noises echo through the vestry, including groans, whistles, and cries for help. 

Many have seen a transparent woman in the windows, balcony, or graveyard, and attempts to stay overnight in the 1900s were driven off by an aggressive presence. One custodian saw her floating above the graves, while another visitor glimpsed her smiling through the balcony windows.

The Swannanoa Palace

Afton

The Swannanoa Palace is definitely one of the most haunted places in Virginia, its grandeur overshadowed by the supernatural. Built in 1912 by railroad magnate James H. Dooley, the estate boasts 52 rooms, Italian Renaissance architecture, and a 4,000-piece Tiffany stained-glass window depicting his wife, Sallie May.

After the Dooleys’ deaths, the mansion changed ownership several times, eventually becoming the University of Science and Philosophy in 1948. 

Founded by Walter and Lao Russell, the university promoted controversial ideas about self-discovery and cosmic illumination, drawing parallels to the secretive Illuminati society. The Russells engaged in esoteric rituals, many of which are said to have taken place at Swannanoa Palace.

The library is considered one of the most active rooms; people often hear whispering or moaning there. Owners report that cats refuse to go to the third floor, and locals believe Sallie May disliked cats. 

Today, you can visit Swannanoa Palace, but only on scheduled public tours and private events. 

The Crawford Road Bridge

Yorktown

The Crawford Road Bridge in Yorktown is a narrow, isolated road that is the site of many paranormal activities.

The most famous is that of a bride-to-be who tragically took her own life by hanging herself from the bridge. Witnesses have reported seeing her apparition, a woman in a white gown, standing on the bridge or leaping from it, only to vanish before hitting the ground. Others have experienced their vehicles stalling, batteries draining, or hearing disembodied voices and footsteps.

The bridge’s association with historical events, including public lynchings in the 1800s and early 1900s, doesn’t help the vibe. An abandoned building nearby is also said to be occupied by spirits, with visitors reporting the sensation of being watched by glowing red eyes and feeling unexplained touches. 

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