Reprinted from Haunted Rooms America Website
Virginia Beach is a popular spot for weekend breaks given its desirable location at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. It is very much a resort city thanks to the miles of beaches and an abundance of hotels and other accommodation. However, it is also home to its fair share of ghost stories as well! Let’s take a closer look at some of the haunted places in Virginia Beach, VA:
#7 – Old Coast Guard Station Tower at The Surf and Rescue Museum
One of the most historic monuments in Virginia Beach is the light tower and this also happens to be one of the most haunted places in Virginia Beach. It has several spooky tales associated with it including the story of the Witch of Pungo. Grace White was born in 1660 and she was known to be a bit eccentric even from an early age. Grace was an only child and had to work the family farm. Since she was good at it people began accusing her of witchcraft until she eventually was subjected to a trial by ducking. She escaped her bindings twice and was confirmed as a witch. It is said that she can still be heard cackling close to the light tower on still evenings! There are also reports of staff members hearing footsteps up in the attic of the guard tower when nobody is up there. It is believed that the attic could be haunted by the spirits of shipwreck victims who were often laid in the attic until the bodies were claimed or until missing parts could be found since many bodies did not wash up complete.
#6 – Elbow Road
Driving at night can be a little bit disconcerting. Everything seems to look so much different in the dark, doesn’t it? Then when you throw in a ghost story linked to a particular road the tension ramps up even more! This is certainly the case with Virginia Beach’s Elbow Road. Locals will warn you that you should never stop your vehicle on this road, otherwise you risk an encounter with not one, but two restless spirits! The first is known as Mrs Woble and is apparently the ghost of an old lady who was murdered here and the other is a little girl who is said to have drowned in a nearby lake. The local legend is that if you do happen to stop your car on Elbow Road at night and take a seat on the hood of your car, you will see the wet child sized footprints moving towards you! This may just be an urban legend, but are you brave enough to test the theory out? Drivers travelling on Elbow Road at night have also reported seeing the apparition of Mrs Woble.
#5 – Coast Artillery Road
Another creepy road that can be found in Virginia Beach is the Coast Artillery Road just as it passes Fort Story. The base was originally commissioned during World War I and it is still an active military base today, primarily used to train troops in the use of amphibious equipment. As it is an active base, soldiers are required to take up posts day and night to guard the location. It is these guards who have reported the apparition on Coast Artillery Road. On a number of occasions, guards have described seeing a figure with no identification visible appearing on the road and then vanishing into the wetlands. Over the years there has been some speculation that this is actually the ghost of a soldier who committed suicide here while stationed at Fort Story.
#4 – Princess Anne Country Club
Princess Anne Country Club is well known in Virginia Beach as one of the area’s most notorious haunted buildings. There are a number of spirits here and the most disconcerting thing is that they are mostly malevolent making the haunting here a little bit more terrifying. Among the entities that have been reported here are phantom men who chase people away from the building, and a particularly mean male spirit who wears a cape. However, not all of the spirits here are nasty, there is also a female spirit who is described as a bride and is usually accompanied by the sound of eerie old fashioned music drifting from the bar area of the Country Club. When the property was being renovated, construction workers also claimed that they could hear what sounded like the dining room being set up for dinner service, complete with jangling silverware and clinking glasses! This suggests that there are also spirits here who are former employees.
3 – Ferry Plantation House
The current Ferry Plantation House was built here in 1830, but the land itself has been inhabited since at least 1642. The house took its name from the ferry boat that used to run the Lynnhaven waterway at that time. Today, the Ferry Plantation House is said to be one of the most haunted houses in Virginia Beach with as many as eleven spirits in residence. The spirits that have been identified here include a former slave named Henry, a female ghost named Sally Rebecca Walke who is mourning her lost love and one time resident and painter Thomas Williamson. There is also a Lady in White who is thought to have died after falling down the stairs in 1826 and several victims of an 1810 shipwreck at the Ferry landing for which the house is named! With so many spirits calling this place home it is no wonder the property is deemed to be haunted. There is also supposed to be a ghost cat there, and there are a few rumours that there could be Native American spirits too considering the fact that construction workers apparently disturbed a burial ground when the house was built.
2 – Adam Thoroughgood House
The Adam Thoroughgood House was built some time around 1719 and now serves as a museum. It may look like a fairly small cottage, but that does not mean that it is not busting at the seams with paranormal activity! Employees have reported seeing the apparition of a red haired woman dressed in Colonial style dresses. She is spotted in various different spots around the property and has been seen wearing a variety of different dresses. There is also a male spirit who has been seen walking around the house dressed in a brown suit. Visitors have described feeling as though they are being watched while visiting and also say that they have felt unexplained cold drafts inside the house. Staff say that the ghosts inside the Adam Thoroughgood house also love moving things around, especially the candlesticks! On one occasion, staff witnessed 4 glass domes that were protecting Christmas candles lift up and then crash to the floor. There have also been a handful of occasions when heavy furniture has been moved when nobody was in the room!
1 – The Cavalier Hotel
The Cavalier Hotel was built in the 1920s and over the years it was popular with some famous guests including the likes of Bette Davis, Al Capone, Adolph Coors, Woodrow Wilson and Judy Garland. In fact, Adolph Coors, founder of Coors Beer, is said to be one of the many spirits that are said to be haunting the property. Apparently, Mr Coors either jumped or fell from one of the hotel’s windows in 1929. There are even rumors that he may have been pushed. Whatever the true cause of his death, one thing is sure – guests and employees at The Cavalier Hotel have reported feeling his presence on the sixth floor and there have even been reports of guests hearing a loud thud as they walk past the spot outside where his body hit the ground! There are also reports of staff encountering a spirit in an Army Uniform on the employee staircase who warns them not to go upstairs as there are bodies there! This is unsettling to hear, especially when you learn that the ghost was correct at one time! A ship had been blown up offshore during World War I and the bodies that washed ashore were brought into the hotel which had been commandeered by the US Navy at the time!
Some guests have also complained about a cat in their room which could be related to a tale of a little girl who drowned in the hotel pool when she attempted to rescue her pet cat who had escaped and fallen into the water. There is certainly a lot going on here and it is no wonder The Cavalier Hotel is considered to be one of the most haunted hotels in Virginia!
There is actually an 8th location being considered.People walking on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk near 12th Street claim they have seen spirit images in the attic window dormers of the historic deWitt Cottage. The images are faint and hard to make out from the boardwalk. Witnesses claim to have seen the image of a man and a woman. Could they be the spirits of Cornelius deWitt and his young wife Cecile? Both of them died in the cottage at relatively young ages; He was 53 years old and she was 49 when they died. This left Julia age 22 and Elizabeth age 21 to raise the seven younger children. Perhaps the spirits of Cornelius and Cecile felt they needed to stay in the house to protect the children. Your Director has been in the cottage at night and heard what sounds like someone rearranging furniture in the attic! Spooky!
Happy Halloween!